Week 3: Robotics + Art

Week 3: Robotics + Art 
April 20, 2017
With respect to robotics and the concept of artificial intelligence, there seems to be two polar ends of the spectrum of attitudes towards modern technology’s progression toward creating more intelligent and mechanized apparatuses to assist humans with various types of production. On the one end, there seems to be an innate curiosity as to how far we can take robots and artificial intelligence, and how robots and technology can continue to improve the human condition. On the other end of the spectrum, humans seem to fear robots - they fear that robots will take over menial jobs and they fear the artificial intelligence will become too intelligent and take over the world.


In Professor Machiko Kusahara’s brief lecture on Japanese robotics, she discusses the cultural divide in how many Western versus Japanese cultures have viewed robots historically. To generalize, she states that while many Western countries typically “employ robots from an industrial point of view” and typically focus on a small section of replicating the human body to improve efficiency and accuracy in production (i.e. a robot arm), the Japanese have created more fully humanoid robots with a purpose of assisting humans (i.e. taking care of the elderly or to help rescue people from a natural disaster).


This specific contrast of the way Westerners and the Japanese view robots can be seen in the film industry with films such as “Eagle Eye” (Western view) and “Big Hero 6” (Japanese view). The ultimate point of “Eagle Eye” warns against the dangers of artificial intelligence becoming too intelligent and self-aware to the point of taking over and controlling humans (Lipson). This truly reflects the end of the spectrum represented by a concurrent awe and fear of such robotic technology. “Big Hero 6,” on the other hand, definitely holds Japanese influence in the film’s setting (San Fransokyo), characters (Hiro and Tadashi Hamada), and in the way robots are viewed and how they function in the film. Here, Baymax is a lovable, inflatable healthcare robot that was created for the purpose of healing people (Hanson). A clearer distinction and representation of Western versus Japanese attitudes towards robots could not be made elsewhere.


 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijnF67942ac
References

Big Hero 6. Dir. Don Hall and Chris Williams. Perf. Ryan Potter and Scott Adsit. Walt Disney, 2015. DVD. Web. 20 Apr. 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijnF67942ac>.

Brooks, Rodney. "Robots will invade our lives." Feb. 2003. TEDTalks. Web. 20 Apr. 2017. <https://www.ted.com/talks/rodney_brooks_on_robots>.

Eagle Eye. Dir. DJ Caruso. Perf. Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan. DreamWorks, K/O Paper Products, 2008. DVD.

Hanson, David. "Robots that 'show emotion'." Feb. 2009. TEDTalks. Web. 20 Apr. 2017. <https://www.ted.com/talks/david_hanson_robots_that_relate_to_you>.
Kusahara, Machiko. "Robotics." UC Online Program. Web. 20 Apr. 2017. <https://youtu.be/xQZ_sy-mdEU>.

 Lipson, Hod. "Building 'self-aware' robots." Mar. 2007. TEDTalks. Web. 20 pr. 2017. <https://www.ted.com/talks/hod_lipson_builds_self_aware_robots>.

 The Pulse | CNBC. YouTube, 16 Mar. 2016. Web. 20 Apr. 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0_DPi0PmF0>.

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 25, 2017 at 8:36 AM

    I like how you present the diverging views of robotics in western and eastern societies by projecting them onto the representations in movies. Indeed, in western industries, robots function more like a machine arm while eastern scientists deliberately design robots in a less intimidating way. I didn't quite realize before that how people's attitudes could significantly affect both industrial design and cultural representations of robots.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownApril 25, 2017 at 11:18 PM

    I found it very insightful to read how you presented the development of robotics from two different cultural standpoints. While I always knew about the various ways robots were portrayed, I never really stopped to think about the cultural context they have, and the how the driving vision for them are different. Now that I reflect on it after reading your blog, I realized that western cultures really do portray robots either and purely utilitarian or as some menacing autonomous force. However in Japanese culture, robots are glorified as synthetic beings that can coexist with humans, and even to the point as where robots are the portrayed as equivalent to superheros. Hopefully, more of the world adopts this view and continues to develop robots to better work along side humans, rather than work for humans.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownApril 26, 2017 at 8:48 PM

    I found your blog very interesting to read. It really informed me in a clear way of how these two societies view robots. It will be interesting to see how they develop in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownApril 26, 2017 at 11:57 PM

    I found your blog to be very intriguing and eye-opening ! To highlight what you said about robots taking over , I never really understand why humans are afraid of this . After all, we are the creators of robots !!

    ReplyDelete

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