In Robots and the People Who Love Them (St. Martin’s, Jan.), science writer Herold studies how advanced androids are changing human society.
How will socially interactive robots affect humanity?
People who do not have a firm dividing line between fantasy and reality—and that is most of us— will surrender easily to social robots. When a robot tells you “I love you,” your brain fires the same way as if your spouse had said it. There’s an executive brain function to override that, but robots have a way of pulling us in. It’s going to take effort to teach people how to live with them. They tap into our gregarious social nature, arouse emotions in us, and seduce us into thinking they have general intelligence. But only humans have general intelligence—which is something the manufacturers won’t tell you. People are really going to have to challenge themselves to keep having human relationships and to keep reminding themselves, this is not real.
You write that robot maids, caregivers, therapists, and even lovers will be able to meet owners’ needs better than other humans. How?
They’ll learn your interests, tastes, and desires, and they’ll build up your ego. Unlike humans, they won’t complain or seem bored, or get tired. In the case of sex robots, they will be the most accommodating relationship in your life.
What are the dangers of this technology?
One, a robot cannot resist if you abuse it, and owners might carry over that kind of behavior to other humans. Two, these relationships will not have the same depth or nuances as human relationships. You are effectively in a relationship with yourself, rather than with another person who might compel you to learn and to adapt. It’s like being in a narcissistic echo chamber.
Are there positive roles for robots?
Companion bots will be good for lonely people, and there are a lot of lonely people in the world. They can also be helpful for those with dementia because a robot never gets annoyed after being asked the same question over and over. Robot therapists are accessible by cellphone at any time, and other machines can serve children as learning aids and sources of entertainment.
You anticipate humans forming strong emotional attachments with non-sentient intelligent machines. Will robots ever love humans?
That hinges on if they attain consciousness, and what consciousness is is a huge debate. Some scientists say it’s inevitable, but others say we don’t even understand how consciousness works in humans, so how can a machine become conscious? I don’t see this
happening on the horizon, but we’ve been surprised by technology before.
