Marcus Carrington

Professor Aisha Sidibe

ENG 21003 Sec A

Science Response #2

31 October 2018

 

Undiscovered Presents: I, Robovie. Sept 11, 2018

Within the podcast Undiscovered Presents: I, Robovie, the producers were on a mission to discuss if humans have a personal connection and physical relation with robots. Throughout the entire clip samples of audio from past experiments were presented and even analyzed right after. Each example was relatable to what was being stated and was even made known that they were legit and fact checked. The podcast started off with the narrators creating a hook to entice their listeners providing exactly what the entire podcast would be about. This action was completed by the two producers setting a descriptive scene of a robot at Carnegie melons computer science building in 1999 being asked to purchase coffee for its commander. While the robot completed the task it was looked at by other humans and even confused some as if they should treat it as a human or a robot. When the robot completed the task, this allowed for the overall question of the podcast to be presented and the discussion to begin.

The podcast focused on how the experiment of testing human to robot connection came about and its conclusion. A group of psychologist had observed the movie “AI” by Steven Spielberg and saw a scene of a woman putting a robot that she had built a son to mother relationship with in the closet. After being placed in the closet she sat up against the door until she felt bad and decided to take him out. The psychologist then wondered how far our empathy would go for robots and how much we respect them. The experiment was conducted by introducing a controlled robot(Robovie) to a group of 90 kids. The robot was created in japan and didn’t appear human like. The kids met with the robot and greeted him. After greeting the robot, they shared things that they liked hoping to spark something in common. Soon after they played the game I spy. Robovie went first and when the teen got it right he would proceed by asking for a hug that would be distributed with great passion and emotion.  When it was the kids turn an actor entered the room and told the robot that it was time for him to go away in the closet so the kid could be interviewed. Robovie complaining that he wanted to finish the game is ignored and still told to go into the closet. The robot tries to resist and claims that he doesn’t want to go because it’s dark and he will be alone however is finally forced in. The kids who watched these events all said that they were hurt and said it wasn’t alright for him to be forced into the closet. ¾ of the kids said robovie could be their friend and that they would comfort him if he said that he was sad.

This topic is important because as technology progresses, the production of robots is nearing in the future and there is a high chance that robots will become our dependents. With robots being able to handle our personal duties and even create a relationship with individuals, humans will grow emotional connections with its owners as shown in the podcast. I find this topic interesting because teens and even the actor behind the experiment had feelings for the robot and actually cared for it. Even though the robot wasn’t an actual human, the gesture of a hug and simple greeting conversation allowed for the emotional connection to exist. This podcast relates to the outside world because the narrators provided examples that were relatable. An example provided was the google home assistant and siri and how they are able to do a simple tasks for humans whenever needed. With these tasks being able to be completed by the assistant, the humans grew to love the assistants for their lives were made easier. Overall it was proven that it  doesn’t take a lot for the robot to tune into our emotions.

 

Minoff, Annie, and Elah Feder. “Science Friday: Undiscovered Presents: I, Robovie. | WNYC Studios | Podcasts.” WNYC Studios, 11 Sept. 2018, www.wnycstudios.org/shows/science-friday/segments/2.