Humanoïde robots

[Elleke]

Hi,
Ik doe een project over humanoïde robots en ik zou graag een van jullie hierover intervieuwen via de mail (de vragenlijst staat op een word document). Zou dat misschien kunnen?

Alvast bedankt!
Elleke

[jip_rietveld]

Hoi @Elleke

Klinkt als een tof PWS onderwerp. Stuur je vragenlijst maar hier over het forum en dan zal ik kijken of ik de vragen voor je kan beantwoorden, als ik er niet uit kom kan ik altijd verder kijken op mijn faculteit naar professoren of mede studenten die misschien gewerkt hebben met humanoïde robots.

Groeten,
Jip

[Elleke]

Super bedankt! Hier is de vragenlijst. Hij is wel in het engels (ik hoop dat het geen probleem is en sorry dat ik het niet eerder gemeld heb). Maar u mag uiteraard in het nederlands antwoorden als dat makkelijker is.

Er zit nog een heel stuk informatie over mijzelfvooraf maar i.v.m. privacy deel ik deze informatie liever niet over het forum, sorry hiervoor.

1. What do you estimate the robot world population is in begin 2018?

2. Why do you think humanoid robots came to an existence?

3. What is the function of humanoid robots in our world in your opinion?

4. What influence do humanoid robots have in our world today in your opinion?

5. Will humanoid robots develop fast in the future and in which areas do you predict the most interesting or amazing development?

6. What will the effect of the humanoid robots be on human beings?

7. Are you positive about all the developments or do you see areas of worry?

8. Do you think we need to worry about humanoid robots;

Taking over our jobs?
Look exacly the same as humans?
Building their own kind?
Wanting to extinct human life?

Please add the reasons of your choices for this question under here.
9. Do you think that if RIBA II* is a success, more of those robots will follow?

If you have any other useful information or pictures, I am pleased if you add the links below. Thank you very much in advance.

If you want to receive my bilingual project after I finished it, please let me know!

• A new robot using high-precision tactile sensors and flexible motor control technology has taken Japan one step closer to its goal of providing high-quality care for its growing elderly population. The new robot can lift a patient up to 80 kilograms in weight off floor-level bedding and into a wheelchair, freeing care facility personnel of one of their most difficult and energy-consuming tasks.

Nogmaals bedankt!
Groetjes,
Elleke

[jip_rietveld]

Hey Elleke,
Sorry dat het wat langer duurde maar ik heb de tijd kunnen vinden om je te helpen.

What do you estimate the robot world population is in begin 2018?
I think that the robot world population is an odd statistic to measure. It all depends on how you define a robot. Is the Roomba that vacuums your living room a robot? Or are we only talking humanoid robots like the Nao we have here at the TU Delft. I think that no matter how we spin the definition, the eventual numbers are not too relevant and that it is worth much more if we look at how these robots are being used in society. I am fine with having a Roomba in every household, but eventually you draw a line in where you rather contact a person rather than a robot. So I feel like the robot world population is not that interesting of a statistic and that you would rather analyze how the robot is used.

Why do you think humanoid robots came to an existence?
I think that humanoid robots came into existence out of curiosity. The human body and mind is something that has always been questioned and discussed in the world of science. As soon as computers were invented the idea of a computer simulating human behaviour came to be in the Turing Test. Following those steps you find the concept of a humanoid robot. Why this was invented is tough, but I understand the curiosity scientists have over simulating a human with a computer.

What is the function of humanoid robots in our world in your opinion?
I think humanoid robots can fulfill a lot of functions in our world. I see humanoid robots being used in most cases where there will be human contact. A clerk, or recptionist for instance. What I do find interesting is that sometimes people do prefer a not humanoid robot. For instance the self-scan cashiers in the supermarket. That is also a kind of robot with human interaction, but people prefer seeing it as a computer rather than an actual being.

What influence do humanoid robots have in our world today in your opinion?
I do not think humanoid robots have a big influence in 2018. Mostly in science we are testing the possibilities for robots to express emotions for exampls. Right now the influence these humanoid robots have on society or the average person on the street is minimal. That is because it is mostly confined to the labs in which they are made.

Will humanoid robots develop fast in the future and in which areas do you predict the most interesting or amazing development?
I do not think humanoid robots will develop really fast. I see more robots being made to do far simpler tasks than making contact with people. The reason I think the development of humanoid robots will stagnate is because I do not see them as neccesary. Making robots that can make tasks faster or better is ecoomically viable. But I think we are still a long way away of a good humanoid robots that can express emotion and have conversation. That first one is what I will see as the most amazing development. The moment a robot can express emotions and actually seem real, with all subtle face cues humans have, that will be special day.

What will the effect of the humanoid robots be on human beings?
As expressed before I do not see a bright large future for humanoid robots. That is because I think that at the end of the day people would much rather be welcomed by a fellow human then a robot that has trouble reading your emotions, understanding you and expressing emotions. So the effect I expect is very minimal.

Are you positive about all the developments or do you see areas of worry?
I think that the development of humanoid robots is still very simple and subtle. So I am very positive of all the creative ways scientists are thinking of to try and get a humanoid robot to express emotion for instance. There is (for now and for what I know of) no reason to worry.

Do you think we need to worry about humanoid robots?
So for this question I want to step away from the humanoid robots. As you can see my feelings on humanoid robots are not too strong but robots as a whole are something you can worry about.

I feel that robots can start taking over our jobs but I do not neccesarily see this as bad. I do think society needs to find a way to handle unemployment (I like the idea of a basic income) I did find this article that was pretty interesting on the subject.
For the rest I am not too worried about robots. Building their own kind or looking the same as humans are two very very tough things to do and I think we are still far away from a robot that can do this. Especially looking like humans is very tough and something I do not believe can happen.

Finally the question about wanting to terminate human life. I do not think a robot will ever want to bring human kind to an end. But it is something that can happen "accidently" if we give them acces to those options. Do you know the story of the robot that made birthday cards and ended up killing the entire office?

A robot gets the task to send birthday cards to employees in the office. He starts learning how to make better and better birthday cards, with funnier texts, better paper etc. Eventually the robot is granted acces to the internet to learn more and more about giving birthday cards. The next day everyone in the office drops dead. The robot found out that to make birthday cards you need paper, everyone in the office uses paper on a daily basis to take notes etc. but that is all paper that is not used to make birthday cards. So the robot, to make sure he can always make birthday cards, wants to ensure less paper is used so he terminates the people that use paper for other purposes.

Of course this is quite the horror story but I do see something like this happening, not neccesarily with death but with robots who were made for a simple task that then suddenly influence something totally different because the robot is thinking in a very specific different way.

Do you think that if RIBA II is a success, more of those robots will follow?
Yes! This is exactly the kind of robots I enjoy. Working together with people for a noble cause. You keep human contact, the robot has a very specific task that is not too much responsibilty and simple. This is a great robot!

Ik hoop dat dit een beetje is wat je verwachtte, als je nog vragen hebt over sommige antwoorden kunnen we hier op het forum wel wat discusiëren. Vraag maar raak!

Groeten,
Jip

[Elleke]

Super bedankt voor de reactie! Het gaat mij echt helpen!
groetjes,
Elleke