Troubling Technologies

AI vs Humans in Video Games

The screenshot on the right shows a map for the capture the flag game mode in “Quake III Arena“. This game has recently been noticed as the first instance in which an AI possessed human-type capabilities in order to be victorious within the game against human competitors. Researchers claim this is due to a type of reinforcement learning, where the AI is testing different procedures and making note of what works and what doesn’t within competition. As discussed in class, in computer game formats like chess, the competing AI would use active reinforcement learning in order to be worth opposition. Maude Lavanchy, a writer published by The Conversation, notes in an article of hers, “Human players of capture the flag rated the bots as more collaborative than other humans” (par. 10). This statement expresses that robot’s were capable of working more like a team than human players and were able to strategically compete as a unit and defeat the opposing squad. The ability of artificial intelligence to develop a sense of teamwork promotes the ideology that it will be important for humans to develop skills based in interacting and communicating with robots so an alliance is capable of being established. The fact that robots are able to adapt and learn these human-type senses can be intimidating considering the same coincidences could happen in more interactive appliances.

The United States’ Resistance of Globally Embraced Features of Robotics

Although a majority U.S. consumers interact with, and make use of, industrial technology regularly, they are not comfortable with embracing the features that personal humanoid robots have to offer in their daily life; unlike countries such as Japan, European countries, China, and Korea. The countries listed make use of personal humanoid robots in occupations like educating youth, and assisting elderly due to the abundant population of older folk in some of the listed locations. The image on the right is a humanoid robot manufactured in Japan coined, ‘Kobian‘. This personal robot is designed to assist elderly people and enhance their host’s cognitive senses. This specific style of robot is also capable of providing emotional support and acting like a friend in a sense. The use of robots in this sense rather than in an industrial sense, such as for manufacturing products and goods, also creates job opportunities in the industry for people. American consumers resist the adoption of personal humanoid robots due to the fear of malfunction. Just as Wendy Robert’s notes, about the United States’ adoption of this style of robot, in her article published by Entrepreneur, “As a society we need to overcome the cultural hurdles that prevent us from taking full advantage of the promises of robot technology” (par. 12). The United States could benefit significantly from taking these approach towards robotics use at home and in the workplace, it’s just the fear of the unknown that’s holding them back.

Reaction to Humanoid Robots

I sent my mom a link to a video similar to the motion image displayed to the right. My mom interacts with her phone and other various forms of industrial technology on a regular basis, but I was never truly certain how aware she was of the fast-pace technological advancements happening within the robotics industry. She was oblivious to the current state of robotics. She found the video i sent her ‘frightening’ and ‘unsettling’, she also claimed that this style of robot must have been manufactured for circumstances of warfare. In our class lecture discussing troubling technologies, humanoid robots were expressed in the text as “having similar appearance to human bodies and faces”, as well as “similarities of movement and behavior to humans”; the robot depicted on the right shares each characteristic mentioned, with human’s, other than the physical appearance of face. Although many characteristics are shared and the robot has some human capabilities, the robot would not be classified as existing within the uncanny valley; the robot is easily distinguishable from a human and could in no way be confused.

References:

• Lavanchy, M., Joshi, A., & Behavioural Economics. (2019, August 6). An AI taught itself to play a video game – for the first time, it’s beating humans. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/an-ai-taught-itself-to-play-a-video-game-for-the-first-time-its-beating-humans-118028.
• Roberts, W. (2015, April 22). The World Is Embracing Robots But America Keeps Them at Arms Length. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245301.