By Arjuwan Lakkdawala

Ink in the Internet

I’m taking a radical look at future hypothetical robots. Sort of like a Frankenstein of modern science. A new era of tech is coming and have no doubt it’s going to turn the world upside down.

As a tech enthusiast and someone who is actually rather frightened of how far scientists are pushing the threshold of “progress.” I found myself thinking about that in the future which is happening before me, and that which one might say is impossible to happen.

I’m going to write about both prospects because I think each is a variable important to evaluate in order to deduce the mental and material outcome of the present state of things in this regard.

What my eyes see: Neuromorphic computing it appears is almost all set to eclipse deep learning, machine learning, take Artificial Intelligence to a whole new level.

Basics of it: a memristor sits in the heart of each chip, which has synapses that simulate the passing of information like in the human brain. Please note: the “simulation” is crude and in its infancy, because the human brain is not a solid electrical device.

In our brains and down to our spinal cord there are billions of neurons with chemical and electrical signal processing synapses. That send commends to our whole body.

The electrical synapses which our brain uses less often than the chemical ones, are responsible for our reflexes among perhaps other things. Like when you’re suddenly about to trip and fall but on reflex gain your balance. You didn’t think of balancing yourself, but that super instant decision made with lightning speed that saved you is the work of the electrical synapse.

Leading tech companies are trying to make the chips smaller.

The idea is that the processing and memory components on the memristor, work with the least energy consumption, and highest speed possible.

Presently in computers the processor and memory are located separately and the flow of electricity which sends signals to transistors in the binary language of 1s and 0s doesn’t permit for programming which could let Artificial Intelligence simulate any form of self-derived creativity or interpretation.

Deep learning which so far is considered the ultimate edge of AI is still based on logical computation but with layers of data from which the algorithm outputs the highest number of matches.

This logic based thinking which is an artificial simulation of how the left side of our brain operates, is what scientists want to surpass into the territory ruled by the right side of our brains – creativity.

It is believed the Neuromorphic chip is the first step in this direction.

However, don’t get confused by the difference in the Neuromorphic chip’s ability to process information and the programming needed for it to get “creative.” Artificial Intelligence is still hungry for human produced data and programming.

Neuromorphic computing is simply the beginning of a clever way of processing information. But it does seem soon enough it’s going to become a needed option.

Because according to Moore’s Law (the doubling of transistors every couple of years) means we are going to reach a point where the transistors produced won’t be enough to process rapidly growing new data in the world.

Suppose Neuromorphic computing improves to somewhat science fiction levels, in this case it would be a good summary of the brain of our hypothetical robot.

I’m certain it won’t actually go in the robot’s head space. Because it’s not necessary.

Cloud computing is so much more convenient.

Next for its eyes just imagine Google Glass. (You get the picture)

Hearing: Ultra-sensitive, can pick up frequencies humans can’t.

Muscles: depending for what the robot is used for, it could be soft plastic, or titanium metal.

What about the hands and touch? Here is where my fear lies. Over ambitious scientists can’t stop making robots that are “human-like” or animal-like” the purpose of these isn’t to replace humans or pets, but for people who prefer to be served by robots in restaurants, in sales, etc.

As for pets it’s thought “robotic pets are so much easier to care for.”

This is the biggest fault in the idea. There is no caring, there is no sense of guilt if it breaks, no pity if you haven’t fed it for days.

I recently saw a video on Youtube in which a man beats a humanoid looking robot, and kicks a dog-like robot. The footage meant to express that treat them as you want. This thing looks like a human but it’s not, and this looks like a dog but it’s not.

As someone who grew up taking care of actual pets, and cried rivers when they died. This footage doesn’t change a thing about how I feel about real humans and animals.

But imagine if you’re a kid born in this tech era. And you grow up with a mechanical pet dog. Won’t it distort your balance of touching with care, in comparison to rough touching?

Won’t it distort your sense of humanity of what hurts and what doesn’t?

The obsession to make robots human-like is so bad. I wouldn’t be surprised if future robots had human hearts grown in human tissue sacks, connected to its brain via prosthetics.

This too is serious bad news. Because if the robot is indeed given some form of artificial intelligence independence.

I wouldn’t expect it to have good feelings. Humans are the best example of how hard it is to fight evil temptations.

Copyright ©Arjuwan Lakkdawala 2020

Arjuwan Lakkdawala is an Author, Science Communicator, and Journalist. @Spellrainia Twitter Instagram

References:

Brain-Like (Neuromorphic) Computing - Computerphile

Neuroscience 2nd. Edition (book)

Exam Sam (website) Neurotransmitters, Reflexes, Synapses.