On this beautiful Independence Day I’ve had the chance to see firsthand that our advances in artificial intelligence and robotics have come much further than most people realize. Â These robots are able to walk and move much like human beings, and even do a pretty good job of talking like real people. Â They’re good enough that I wonder if the term ‘robot’ is really the right word…perhaps they’re some kind of hybrid construct?
They do have their failings, though. Â The designers haven’t got the facial expressions quite right–there’s no warmth, and they have little or no ability to smile. Â They also, of course, have no sense of humor and are completely lacking in human kindness or courtesy.
These qualities might limit their spread to some occupations, but the makers have obviously found at least one place to employ their creations. Â I saw these robots at almost every station in the airport today, and I do believe they’ve fully saturated the airport security checkpoints. Â I guess there are some jobs in which the ability to smile or demonstrate warmth are not in the job description.
Happy Fourth of July!
(see, I’m still human).
