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general Would you have a relationship with a Robot?


Vulcan

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The nay sayers keep saying that it's not real and it's just a program. Evolution of the mind is programming. Relationships are 99% based on sexual desire and 1% based on people giving up and settling. What's the differnce between bone and flesh, versus titanium and plastic?

 

However, I don't think a robot could be programmed to be identical to humans. Traditional programming is a goal-focused approach. But the human mind is a product of millions of years of blind evolution. For example, you would program a robot to see food, calculate that it needs food to power it's chemical motors, and logically deduce how much food it needs to eat. But a human sees food and feels hungry, which is a much more complex process, involving desire, gratification, greed, anticipation, etc. You would never give a robot taste buds and then let it figure out what to eat. Now apply that to the desire to reproduce.

 

Maybe you could copy a brain and tweak it to be loyal to you, and make it's personality perfect. Forgetting the moral issues, that might work. Build a custom girlfriend.

You don't really care for opinions that differ from your own, it seems like? Much as you believe what you're writing, this is not an objective truth. Would it hurt to type "In my opinion..." sometimes? ;)

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Real love takes time and effort to develop between people, which is more rewarding than simply having a robot programmed to "love" you, in my opinion. When you mention "no bickering", I would assume that this robot would simply give in all the time to avoid conflict? If that's the case, I would feel put off because I find it important for people to have their own convictions. Yes, bickering isn't fun or desirable, but a pushover as a partner would also make me uneasy. Plus, being able to resolve disagreements can help you to grow together and deepen your relationship. I also feel pretty creeped out by the idea of being romantic with something synthetic anyway, it's just not my thing. :P

^ This.

 

Even though I absolutely adore anything to do with robots or tech in general, I don't think that I'd date one for the specific reasons that Kiri said in the post that I'm quoting.

 

Relationships need ACTUAL love to work out in the end. You can program a robot to love you, sure, but it doesn't TRULY love you of its own accord. It just wouldn't be the same in my eyes.

 

But if other people would, then go for it. Wouldn't matter to me.

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If they were a robot like Nick Valentine, I wouldn't mind.  If they were programmed to "love" me unconditionally, I don't think I'd be interested.  Maybe try it out to see what it's like but I don't know...  I guess I'm more on the fence about it than anything.

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Aren't we all robots technically, the only difference being that we are bio-chemical machines while they are metal and wire? We all have a preprogrammed set of actions like they do, and can learn and adjust our perimeters with new information. With tech that advanced, we'd be not so different. 

 

Fun fact. My dad owns a book on the subject. 

 

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I would be more likely to have a relationship with a robot than another person. I don't know why but I've always preferred robots to pretty much anything else. And considering I don't have relationships in general, it will just weird either way.

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It's an interesting concept but ultimately I'd have to say no. 

On one hand, you could think of robotic companionship as no different than being affectionate with your plushies. It would be a stand-in for something that's lacking in your life if you don't have a biological mate. Physically or even emotionally it might serve some purpose. But on the other hand, there would be no soul connection as you would have with a human being. Learning about another person and what makes them tick, as well as the dynamic of interacting with another intelligent being, is what interpersonal relationships are all about. With a robot you wouldn't have all the baggage, but you wouldn't get all the rewards either. 

In the movie '2010' it's said that there is no fundamental difference between carbon-based and silicone-based intelligence, but it's not just about intelligence but life itself. Without a soul, how can one have a soulmate? 

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It's an interesting concept but ultimately I'd have to say no. 

On one hand, you could think of robotic companionship as no different than being affectionate with your plushies. It would be a stand-in for something that's lacking in your life if you don't have a biological mate. Physically or even emotionally it might serve some purpose. But on the other hand, there would be no soul connection as you would have with a human being. Learning about another person and what makes them tick, as well as the dynamic of interacting with another intelligent being, is what interpersonal relationships are all about. With a robot you wouldn't have all the baggage, but you wouldn't get all the rewards either. 

In the movie '2010' it's said that there is no fundamental difference between carbon-based and silicone-based intelligence, but it's not just about intelligence but life itself. Without a soul, how can one have a soulmate? 

This is actually quite true.

 

Very insightful.

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It's an interesting concept but ultimately I'd have to say no. 

On one hand, you could think of robotic companionship as no different than being affectionate with your plushies. It would be a stand-in for something that's lacking in your life if you don't have a biological mate. Physically or even emotionally it might serve some purpose. But on the other hand, there would be no soul connection as you would have with a human being. Learning about another person and what makes them tick, as well as the dynamic of interacting with another intelligent being, is what interpersonal relationships are all about. With a robot you wouldn't have all the baggage, but you wouldn't get all the rewards either. 

In the movie '2010' it's said that there is no fundamental difference between carbon-based and silicone-based intelligence, but it's not just about intelligence but life itself. Without a soul, how can one have a soulmate? 

 

hm, so, assuming you're not entering religious territory, you would say bots like Andrew (Bicentennial Man), Chi (Chobits), Optimus Prime (Transformers), Bender (Futurama), Platinum (DC Comics Metal Men), Guri (Star Wars), don't have a soul?

 

If you are entering religious territory than what would you say about Wonder Woman, who is a clay golem given a soul.

 

Then we have cyborgs and A.I.s (Cortana (Halo))....

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I would say that I would not consider anything man-made to have a soul. Religiously speaking, only God can create a soul. As far as Wonder Woman is concerned, I don't really know her backstory so I can't make a clear call there. If she was given a soul, who gave it to her? That brings me back to the fact that only God can create a soul, so if not God, than it couldn't be anything real; just a fantasy created by the comics. 

As for cyborgs, they are at least partially flesh so by that reckoning they would have souls.   

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I would say that I would not consider anything man-made to have a soul. Religiously speaking, only God can create a soul. As far as Wonder Woman is concerned, I don't really know her backstory so I can't make a clear call there. If she was given a soul, who gave it to her? That brings me back to the fact that only God can create a soul, so if not God, than it couldn't be anything real; just a fantasy created by the comics. 

As for cyborgs, they are at least partially flesh so by that reckoning they would have souls.   

 

Hm, this is getting dangerous. I think we'll let the "soul" thing lie here and move on to something else.

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Optimus Prime (Transformers),
 Being the Transformer nerd I am I do have to point out that Cybertronians (at least depicted in recent material) do have a soul of a kind; but it's not really the point I assume.

 

But in terms of the question; for me it really depends how advanced the robot was...

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I don't know if I would buy one. That doesn't really seem right to me.

I'd do it if I decided I was tired of people...

But then there is the problem of ending the relationship with the bot, on the offchance that a human catches my eye later down the road.

I couldn't just hit their power button. That doesn't seem right to me.

 

I guess in a world where bots roamed freely much like humans, and were their own beings, I'd totally do that.

But I would never buy one, own one, and shut it off when most convenient. I wouldn't treat it like a plaything.

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I dunno. If the robot was free to make its own decisions, and wasn't bound to love me due to its programming, then yes. Personally: human, alien, robot, GELF (Genetically Engineered Life Form), clone (any species), etc, species would not bother me when it comes to dating, and it would never be a reason to not date someone. Now, I would have to be attracted to and love the individual, but they must be free to love others themselves, not be bound by some constraint that forces them to me. It just wouldn't feel right otherwise.

 

Not saying I will become attracted to anyone or anything, but who knows, my behavior is not set in stone!

I don't know if I would buy one. That doesn't really seem right to me.

I'd do it if I decided I was tired of people...

But then there is the problem of ending the relationship with the bot, on the offchance that a human catches my eye later down the road.

I couldn't just hit their power button. That doesn't seem right to me.

 

I guess in a world where bots roamed freely much like humans, and were their own beings, I'd totally do that.

But I would never buy one, own one, and shut it off when most convenient. I wouldn't treat it like a plaything.

I agree, it would feel to much like slavery, as it seems to me like it would be self-aware and intelligent enough to Know of both the fact that it's a robot, and of its programmed constraints.

 

Sure, it would mean a risk of rejection, but that way I would know that if they love me, it is entirely of their own will.

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To go into more detail than my previous post; I don't think I could actually get attached if I bought it and it was literally programmed to love me regardless; that wouldn't be 'real'.

 

If however we were talking about something that had human level sentience and intelligence and the relationship was formed naturally then yes I could see myself being able to have a relationship with a robot.

 

It might be a little weird if they were based off a fictional character but eh...

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  • 3 years later...

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