This week's topic has shown a strong relationship between robotics, art, and industrialization. Machiko Kusahara, a Professor at Waseda
University in Japan, spoke about the cross cultural effect that art has had on
man’s image of robots. In the 1800s in England,
farmers were expelled from their lands and began working in factories. Utilizing technology to mass produce textiles
and iron revolutionized cities all over the world. Despite the early successes of
industrialization, poor working conditions marked the Industrial Revolution. Fast forward to the art of film, and we can
see how industrialization was perceived in movies.
The ultimate fear of man being replaced by machines lead to
what Professor Kusahara called man’s “underlying fear of robots”. This fear has been evident in man’s portrayal
of robots in film. The release of movies
such as Terminator and I-Robot played on those fears.
Walter Benjamin’s writing,
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction, discussed society’s effects on art. He stated, “The conventional is uncritically enjoyed, and the truly new is
criticized with aversion.” Reading this
quote made me realize that I too shared the perception seen in movies that
robots are intelligent AND inherently evil.
I would never have been able to trace that perception back to the
Industrial Revolution.
Alan Turing’s revolutionary ideas on artificial intelligence and the ability for a machine to “think” were discussed in his writing Computing Machinery and Intelligence. In addition to philosophical objections raised, Turing sought to investigate a machine’s ability to function on its own at the same capacity of man. NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory created a robot that Turing may have said had the ability to think. NASA and JPL advertised their robot using the art of film. They portrayed a proposed landing of their robot, the Curiosity Rover, on the surface of Mars. The Curiosity successfully completed its mission to land on Mars by operating without real-time assistance of human hands.
Art has been used to influence society’s perception of industrialization
and robotics. Industrialization has
permeated every part of today’s society.
Mass production of goods throughout the world has become the natural way
in which businesses operate. Despite
consistent fears displayed within our movies about the evil of robots and industrialization, our
society remains committed to utilizing industrialization and the technology of robotics to further our capabilities.
SOURCES:
Kusahara, Machiko. "Professor Machiko Kusahara on japanese robotics". Cole UC online. Youtube, 9 April 2012. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. <https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/63226/wiki/unit-3-view?module_item_id=970429>.
Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”.1936.
Turing, Alan. "Computing Machinery and Intelligence". Mind 49: 433-460. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. <www.csee.umbc.edu/courses/471/papers/turing.pdf>.
"Chaplain's Critique of Industrialization". Youtube, 29 July 2007. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-FbVF1x1_U>.
"Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines". Web. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. <www.terminatorfilm.co.uk>.
"Challenges of Getting to Mars: Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror". Youtube, 22 June 2013. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuOndU2bpPw>.
"Humaniod|The Robot Studio". Web. 19 Oct. 2013. <www.therobotstudio.com>.
I agree with you when you state that robots are seen as intelligent and evil, especially in the film industry. I believe these movies are created to show us that robots can be extremely helpful but they should regulate their intelligence. Great post!
ReplyDeleteOur overpowering need to progress and to have things made easy does fog out the fears we have about the possible "evils" of technology as you mentioned. I think the media has more power more than actual political leaders because it is here where the brainwashing occurs. We see images of robots and technology being a good thing and we're prone to believe it is actually better for us. Was it really though?
ReplyDelete