Are we destroying our humanity by giving life to robots?
Maggie and I have been encouraging STEM education through this blog but I forgot to mention that we have to be careful. Innovation is an incredible thing, and we all desire imagination and have creative abilities. But is it possible there is a line we shouldn't cross when it comes to science versus humanity?
Jasper is the less sassy, British version of Siri. He (I should have said 'it' but the fact that my first instict was to refer to this robot as if it had a gender only proves my point further) is a voice command system that is always on and functioning. Unlike Siri, Jasper can play songs from Spotify along with other important know-hows of the day such as time, weather and news. It seems like a perfect machine to introduce the future.
But when we refer to robots as if they were humans, what does that say about us? Whatever happened to reading the newspaper and walking outside to test the weather? With all of these conveniences, we are becoming lackadaisical and less inventive. Through the development of these impressive technologies, everyday people like us are left wondering why we need to be innovative if all of it is done for us.
Creativity is part of what makes us human and separate from robots and animals. We have the ability to appreciate beauty and create some for ourselves. Without that aspect, we are dull, lifeless and colorless. By destroying our drive to do it ourselves and taking away our motivation, technology can makes us lazy, thus breaking us down into something less than human.
When we use technology for convenience, we are merely interacting with the modern world, which is good and important. But when our whole lives are dependant on robots and smart phones, we need to take a step back and realize what we are doing to our humanity.
To read about Jasper, click here.