Journal 9, June 14

A World of Robots

As technology rapidly advances, the use of robots and their interaction with society also progresses. Robots were originally created to assist mostly in large manufacturing plants to help lift large heavy materials or hot metal in the early 1960s. Today, robots do nearly everything humans do and even some participate in activities humans normally would not. The army and police units use robots to detect bombs and mine fields while a normal household may have a robotic device that cleans the kitchen floor or mows the front lawn.

The capabilities of robots get larger all the time. Robots have already been created that assist manufactures in building tiny microprocessors, mass produce vehicles, and even help doctors perform a surgical procedure half way across the world. Doctors can now hook sensors to various parts of their arms and head to operate a robotic arm located miles away from them. The robot senses the doctors’ movements and replicates them accordingly on the patient. To help cut down on manufacturing costs robots have replaced plant workers to create lower product costs and work more efficiently. The only question that arises as robots become more sophisticated is in regards to their cognitive progress. Currently the law supports humans in ways they can put a patent on their ideas and inventions. But what happens if and when a robot eventually has its own thought or idea? The law only supports human inventions. The question comes into play of whether the robot inventor should obtain the patent or something be arranged with respect to the robot it self.

Robots should definitely be closely watched and analyzed before they start to process their own ideas and inventions. Otherwise it could lead to destructive actions or the turn on humans, which would be the ultimate dilemma. As far as rights and patents are concerned, I do not think society is ready for that discussion or decision process. First, society needs to see and trust robots to be sure they want them interacting in everyday tasks. Next, we need to actually create robots that can think and act on their own. With that said, I think it will surely be a few years, not long though, before this question needs to be answered.

Reference Used:
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/future-tech/66915.html

Additional References:
http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=74
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robots