Robots to Kill Us All

December 21st, 2008

Straight out of 50’s sci-fi futures we have a man that is warning about the application of future robots. British robotics expert Professor Noel Sharkey, of the University of Sheffield, has called for international guidelines to be set for the ethical and safe application of robots before it is too late. Oh no!

Starkey believes that robot use increasing could become a problem if it is left up to the military, businesses, and the unqualified rather than legislative bodies. The increase of robots in use since 2000 has increased rapidly, and sales of professional and personal service robots are estimated to total 5.5 million in 2008. Estimates suggest that more than 11.5 million will be produced in the next 2 years, and that production costs of robots in the last few years has declined by over 80% since 1990. This means that they will be all around us and eventually taking over the world in the next few years (sorry…I scared myself ).

Service robots are currently being used in all walks of life, from child-minding robots to robots that care for the elderly. These types of robots can be controlled by a mobile phone or from a PC, allowing input from camera “eyes” and remote talking from caregivers. Sophisticated elder-care robots like the Secom “My Spoon” automatic feeding robot; the Sanyo electric bathtub robot that automatically washes and rinses; and the Mitsubishi Wakamura robot, used for reminding people to take their medicine, are already in widespread use.

Despite this no international legislation or policy guidelines currently exist, except in terms of negligence. This is still to be tested in court for robot surrogates and may be difficult to prove in the home (relative to cases of physical abuse).

Starkey worries that we aren’t lookijng at the potential risks of robots: “Research into service robots has demonstrated close bonding and attachment by children, who, in most cases, prefer a robot to a teddy bear. Short-term exposure can provide an enjoyable and entertaining experience that creates interest and curiosity.

“However, because of the physical safety that robot minders provide, children could be left without human contact for many hours a day or perhaps for several days, and the possible psychological impact of the varying degrees of social isolation on development is unknown.

“At the other end of the age spectrum, the relative increase in many countries in the population of the elderly relative to available younger caregivers has spurred the development of elder-care robots. These robots can help the elderly to maintain independence in their own homes, but their presence could lead to the risk of leaving the elderly in the exclusive care of machines without sufficient human contact.”

Well…I was hoping he would be all apocalyptic in his concerns, but I guess he just cares about people being left with out human contact. Pffft…people. Carry on with your concerns about the best diet pills and take no heed to Professor Starkey’s concerns. He is obviously a mad scientist .