ROBOTS have landed in our lives and are going to replenish life the way the invention of the wheel, the internet and atomic energy did. Human life has progressed and revolutionized be-cause of such developments overtime. Though humans have made use of these inventions positively and negatively both; to extend life as well as to kill life, each time people get threatened that this or the other invention is about to annihilate humanity. Humanity has sur-vived almost every invention. For example, when the Internet arrived, it was touted that man would be helpless before the power of the Internet and so would bring destruction.
The same is being said about Artificial intelligence and humanoid robots, especially that they would hijack all working capacity of humans and ultimately enslave humanity to be brought to its final destruction. But yes, robots are coming to serve humanity and to make his life safe, se-cure, comfortable and work-free. A machine has a master, not a machine becomes the master. But yes, we must deal wisely and intelligently with the latest entry of AI with these machines that can empower them limitlessly. Here humans must redefine their status, role and power in the world now.
The concern about the power to control humanity about the Robots is mostly generated be-cause of the movies on the same subjects. We witness those robots in movies performing multiple tasks just like human beings and suddenly, there is some malfunctioning or virus entry, and they begin to assume power and control. But this is all in movies not in the real world. In the real world, this technology is still under process and only a crude form of an independent robot has been testified. Yes of course, they are working in space, in medical science, in banks and industries in one way or the other and made man’s life easier, faster, and more productive. For example, the robots in the car manufacturing industry have taken up almost all work and are very efficiently working.
The fear that machines or Robots or Humanoid robots would overpower humanity mainly germinated from the fearful and threatening representations of these machines in fiction and visual arts. So far, there have not been any such instances. Some people base this anxiety on the learning and adaptation capacity of robots that can self-improve constantly and can learn to destroy anything that threatens them. Robots are not only about but also benefits. Automating cars, home appliances, and industrial robotics have never resulted in a disadvantage to humanity. However, the possibility of malfunctioning and losing control can be an issue. Adding AI to these automated machines makes them even more powerful and capable of making decisions accordingly. This may shift control from humans to humanoids very soon because of the non-human efficiency of machines.
A humanoid company for lonely men and women is being developed which will have its socio-political repercussions. Politically speaking, it would lend a better control to the au-thorities and common citizens would have very little freedom. At the global level, the divide between the powerful and the weak would further expand because the highly efficient tech-nology would further exacerbate the power mindset and consequently the imperialistic ten-dencies of mankind would prevail and cause unprecedented political turmoil. Further, the negative use in the hands of evil-minded individuals can introduce crimes of its nature unable to be controlled by the existing system of Policing. The case of cyber-attacks and siphoning of money through electronic hacking is already in place.
Gradually these Humanoids would be more efficient and qualified to help man in his work and make him more comfortable and faster in their day-to-day routines. It is also being claimed that there is a possibility of the disappearance of human emotions because machines cannot show this. Emotions make a human superior to the machine and so machines can’t fulfil the need for human empathy and fraternity. But then humanoids are also expected to learn with time to interact with human emotions but that may take years and years to develop such a humanistic Robot.
Life is no longer a static phenomenon and is prone to change and this is the very essence of life which lends diversity, complexity and efficiency to survive. The man-made technology has helped him reach space and perform wonders in medical science and education. So, threats, anxiety and fear may or may not be substantial, the advantageous use of robots for the benefit of mankind would prevail and humans may develop mechanisms to exercise con-trol on the Humanoids’ world. It would again depend as usual on the use and misuse of Humanoids. Humans can make or mar their world. Humanoids would be there to help man either way. The evolution of science and technology is unstoppable and so is the power of the same.
views expressed are writer’s own.
