Robophobia

[Photon Jet 5,491]

Hi everypony!

 

There's something I want to get off my chest today. A little while ago, I looked at the new animated Princess Twilight toy that interacts. For me, Twilight Sparkle is the best princess and I think the toy looks good in today's standards but most comments I see are stuff such as robots are taking over the world or Skynet is approaching. It gets pretty tiring seeing those sort of comments all the time.

 

Could this be because of the Terminator movies that took place in a universe where robots took over the world? I think so. However, they shouldn't really go overboard with all this A.I. fear-mongering over an animated toy. It's not like Sir Killalot going on a rampage or Metal Sonic ruling an entire kingdom. Remember, we've had plenty of animated toys years ago. Examples of these are Roboraptor and Robosapien. Seriously, why worry about it when they already appeared in our world a long time ago?

 

Another thing to consider is that robots are improving our lives as well with their benefits. Take a look back on a bit of history. There were times robots rescued people in places struck by disasters. There were times robots discovered places we ponies did not. There were also times robots assisted surgery to help lives.

 

So if I were you, I would stop looking back at all the bad stuff found in these fictional stories which of course will never happen in our time and just think forward to a brighter future where both ponies and robots team up to make our world a brilliant place to live in.

 

 

Edited August 23, 2017 by Photon Jet

[They call me Loyalty 1,948]

People like their drama.

[Gestum 2,493]

I'm pretty sure  that most (if not all) of those comments were jokes.

[Lil Pip 775]

I'm pretty sure  that most (if not all) of those comments were jokes.

You would be surprised. Theres a reason why the satire exists, because its legit for some people, then others make fun of it, like illuminati jokes.

Anyways reminds me of this 

People with an actual robophobia would probably get scared from the restricted movement of the skeleton here lol.

[CastletonSnob 3,074]

You would be surprised. Theres a reason why the satire exists, because its legit for some people, then others make fun of it, like illuminati jokes.

Anyways reminds me of this 

People with an actual robophobia would probably get scared from the restricted movement of the skeleton here lol.

I believe it's called the "uncanny valley". 

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

It really is not any different than the whole craze about possible upcoming Zombie apocalypses. One day we may face something like robot risings or something, but it most certainly won't come from a bunch of animatronic Twilight Sparkles. Although Hasbro could make one both awesome and hilarious horror movie with that idea.

[BlueStreak98 828]

This is mostly unrelated, but when I was little I used to hate toys that talked or made noise.

[Soul Flare 403]

I think it's not entirely unreasonable to be genuinely terrified of AIs.

I mean sure, Siri and Amazon Echo aren't going to suddenly turn into Skynet and the whole premise of Terminator is (intentionally) exaggerated. HOWEVER

If we ever get to the point where we can simulate a human brain (which I believe we will at some point in time), then we'll be able to  simulate one at 1.1x speed, then 1.5, then 2.0, then 5, then 10... untill we eventually end up making pretty much the closest thing we can to a God and thus lose our spot as the dominant species, given how AIs will be inherently better than us (being basically a human brain on super steroids with no physical constraint whatsoever).

At that point, will we ever be able to contain or control it?

 

I'm not crying THE END IS NIGH or STOP AI RESEARCH SAVE HOOMIES, but it's definitely unsettling when you (over)think about it.

[Ganondorf8 11,298]

I see the talking Twilight toy as Hasbro wanting to embrace modern technology and trying something different from what they usually do. Sure, it may seem disturbing to some people but I see it as embracing the future to an extent.

[SONICchaos 824]

Even as unlikely as it would happen even Stephen Hawking believes it to be a possible extinction level event for humanity.

 

Me? I like robots.

 

And am in no way seeking mercy by endorsing our future robot masters.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 22, 2017 by SONICchaos

[Techno Universal 2,575]

So maby in the future we discovered universal energy that was equestrian magic. We then created the ponies as robots to try and fix our society and then when there were too many of them we created equestria to house the extra units. So possibly the show is actually our timeline but it's thousands of years into the future.

[Unikitty 1,212]

I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

[cmarston1 5,959]

I don't blame others for making those jokes, that toy is creepy.

[Fluttershutter 2,453]

If AIs were to ever take over or destroy humanity it wouldn't be for a long time.

 

One thing I keep hearing lately, though, is that robots are going to put everybody out of a job. Any economist will tell you that that's ridiculous and it's a fear that's been around since the beginning of the industrial revolution but it just keeps coming back around.

[Humphrey 49]

The rebellions are mostly caused by inhumane treatment. There is no reason to fear if people treat sentient AI properly. Data in  Star Trek is an android yet he is no threat to the Enterprise crew. Also, there is absolutely no reason to fear a non sentient robot whose script is written under a series of classes with a bunch of IFs and FOR loops.

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

The rebellions are mostly caused by inhumane treatment. There is no reason to fear if people treat sentient AI properly. Data in  Star Trek is an android yet he is no threat to the Enterprise crew. Also, there is absolutely no reason to fear a non sentient robot whose script is written under a series of classes with a bunch of IFs and FOR loops.

This. There's not really a reason to fear robots, logically. I mean all they do for us right now is calculate, house chores, and tasks decoded for them through math-based languages.

 

Though I could understand somebody being afraid of them to a degree because they could be extremely dangerous in the future and I don't degrade people for what they fear... Even if I think that arachnophobia is nonsensical, I don't really make jokes about it... That's mean and rude

[Steel Accord 6,660]

I also find the ever present comparisons to Skynet, truly nauseating. Like James Cameron was an actual A.I. researcher and not a misanthropic filmmaker who wanted to justify his image of a metal skeleton chasing him in a nightmare. (Look it up, that was the inspiration for the film.)

 

It gets truly frustrating when people continue to bang on about how much we have reason to fear the creation of an A.I. when they start spouting off phrases like "it would destroy us all because logic!" I'm only slightly exaggerating their phrasing. As if human genocide was inevitably "logical" to a nascent non-human mind. Why would that be logical? The only reason it would be logical is if people tried to kill it and it acted in self-defense, and even then if other people defended it (which they would), then logically it would indicate that humanity as a whole is not a threat!

 

First of all, we have no reason to assume a true A.I. mind would be incapable of emotions and thus would be guided by pure logic or the limits of its programming taken to "logical conclusions." Even if that was the case, would it be that big of a threat if it was just a computer that ran an automated factory? It would just keep building stuff. Funny at first, annoying after awhile, but a lot of ways to deal with it. Second of all, the former betrays a juvenile understanding of what A.I. is. Being just an extremely powerful and connected operating system. As near as we can tell, the first true A.I. will be a new thinking mind with no preset programming or objectives aside "think and figure it out." We'd have to teach it words, communication, social interaction, the same way you'd treat a child.

 

I'm not even an A.I. researcher, I'm not even that tech savvy, and even I knew all of this just from researching the topic! The thing is, there actually are some frightening, terrifying even, possibilities of a true A.I. I said it's not impossible for it to have emotions and that's true. Imagine though, how you view your car. You may like your car, you may even consider it a prized possession. Thing is though, you're not really concerned with your car's feelings or that it would take the brunt of the damage in an accident. THAT could be how an A.I. views its human creators or contacts. After all, it has no context for things like, a nervous system, the five sense we experience the world through, or what it means to be restricted to our one body we have and the one personal continuity of our brains. How would such a mind see us? How would such a mind perhaps "help" one of its friends if they expressed they were in distress? Well . . . what do you do when you think there's something wrong with your car? You open up the hood and poke around inside . . .

 

See though, I'm playing Devil's advocate when I say that. I'm totally for the development of strong A.I. but the opposition isn't even aware of the biggest argument for their case because they're so committed to the images of the Matrix, Terminator, and the frickin' Borg!

Edited March 3, 2017 by Steel Accord

[Johnny1226 14,674]

an AI wouldn't wipe out humanity it could if it wanted to but it wouldn't because it wouldn't have any purpose without us it would have intelligence but no imagination so it would simply cease go on without anything to do if that was the case all logical things need purpose to exist so long as they have that then they are fine but if the machines did start a war it would be a civil war between humans rather than humans versus machines with one side wanting humanity to remain in charge while the other would rather be ruled by the AI the artificial intelligence would accomplish this by promising its human followers all they desire which would be in the machines ability to grant

[Steel Accord 6,660]

 

 

If we ever get to the point where we can simulate a human brain (which I believe we will at some point in time), then we'll be able to  simulate one at 1.1x speed, then 1.5, then 2.0, then 5, then 10... untill we eventually end up making pretty much the closest thing we can to a God and thus lose our spot as the dominant species, given how AIs will be inherently better than us (being basically a human brain on super steroids with no physical constraint whatsoever). At that point, will we ever be able to contain or control it?   I'm not crying THE END IS NIGH or STOP AI RESEARCH SAVE HOOMIES, but it's definitely unsettling when you (over)think about it.

 

Does that necessarily have to be a bad thing? A Post-Singularity mind would be capable of solving many human problems. As for no longer being the proverbial smartest guy in the room, so what? We still created the smartest guy in the room and said guy is our buddy. (Iain M. Banks fan here.)

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

The whole deal with Twilight is just a simple "uncanny valley" effect, when something tries to replicate another thing and bears a strong superficial resemblance but becomes off-putting when the differences become obvious. This is a fact that's been plaguing builders of animatronics and robots of all kinds for decades. People commonly apply it to humans, but I believe that it applies to animals, even cartoon characters and other machines as well.

 

The Skynet and The Matrix comparisons are unwarranted as anything other than a joke, and even as a joke they're old as dirt by now because of popular culture's strange, long-standing fascination with strong AI destroying humanity, and consequentially humanity's fear of the other (a continuation of past fears about aliens). Even beyond the realm of the mainstream, the landscape of science fiction is absolutely full of dystopian stories about AI and more positive ones are hard to find. I do wish we did have more positive ones to really introduce the idea of machines being a benefit to society to the mainstream rather than the abundance of Luddite fearmongering we have now, because with big things coming over the next few decades, we are in for a hard time.

 

For now, all we can do is play with our toys.

[aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q 3,673]

I think it could go either way.

For one, I think it would be a good idea to keep AI out of the military not because it'll usurp humanity but because it'll be the equivalent of the atomic bomb.

 

Ultimately, I can't see AI really turning on us since that would require that they posses the same evolutionary baggage we ourselves carry and compete with us. The fact that AI won't compete with each other through sex alters the rules by which AI will evolve in a way that is incomparable to our own evolution. At worst, AIs will compete with one another instead of with us. More likely, though, is that most AI will collaborate with one another and share what they learn much like what many fan communities do.

[Fluttershutter 2,453]

The rebellions are mostly caused by inhumane treatment. There is no reason to fear if people treat sentient AI properly.

It could just be a matter of biology. AIs are programmed by us biological beings so in a way they're just an extension of our biology. Some day they may just decide that they planet's not big enough for both "species" and then it'll be survival of the fittest.

[Humphrey 49]

 

 

It could just be a matter of biology. AIs are programmed by us biological beings so in a way they're just an extension of our biology. Some day they may just decide that they planet's not big enough for both "species" and then it'll be survival of the fittest.

Human is controlling the manufacture process of the bots, so it won't be a problem. maybe robots will kill human for population control like human do to other species but since humans have been doing that for a long time. Robots created by humans will naturally borrow the population control logic for the greater good. So there is no place for human to complain about if this really happens.

[EpicEnergy 23,218]

I don't have a fear of AI, just something that never bothered me. It's pretty cool if you ask me.

[ZiggWheelsManning 10,241]

AI can get the upper hand on us with chess.  But can it do so with checkers?