“We’re all machines,” says Rodney Brooks. “Robots are made of different sorts of components than we are — we are made of biomaterials; they are silicon and steel — but in principle, even human emotions are mechanistic.” A robot’s level of a feeling like sadness could be set as a number in computer code, he said. But isn’t a human’s level of sadness basically a number, too, just a number of the amounts of various neurochemicals circulating in the brain? Why should a robot’s numbers be any less authentic than a human’s?”
One Comment, Comment or Ping
Jonas,
Interesting post comparing people and robots–I like it!
At the end of the day, I guess it’s not the materials we’re made out off or the neurochemicals in our brains, but the soul and consciousness that are the mysteries of the spiritual/religious realm that make us distinct from any robot, computer, or machine.
Best,
Andy Blumenthal
November 2nd, 2007
Reply to “Robotics at MIT”