Why You Are Not Going To Marry A Fridge?
George is a middle-aged and lonely bloke in small-town England. He is in love with his doll and is looking forward to the day that technology delivers on its promise and he gets an AI-powered doll that he can love, marry and have a long-term relationship with. But tragically, he will never be able to go off in the sunset with his future companion — it is never going to happen.
The spectre of a prodigal human dining at a clubhouse at the edge of the known universe with your AI-powered human-looking robot is also just that — science fiction that can never become real.
Do you worry or feel disoriented with advances in AI and robotics? Do you think that humanity is reaching a point of no return? Is the point of singularity near and robots and Artificial intelligence are set to replace humanity? Will you or the next generation have an AI-powered robot as a partner? If you have answered “Yes” to any of the above or if you fear Artificial intelligence, read on.
AI or Humanoid Robot as a Sexual Partner — Pipedream or Reality?
There is a growing interest and debate on AI-powered human-like robots becoming sexual partners in the foreseeable future. In many ways, it is similar to plastic or silicone dolls that a minuscule minority prefers as sex partners. No matter how advanced they become in mimicking human emotions, behaviour or sexual tendencies, it is doubtful that robots can ever replace a human partner.
The reasons are varied, such as:
· It lacks human touch & warmth
· You do get the same emotions of love or arousal when you hug another human
· It is as impersonal and “artificial” as the cold surface of a fridge or wooden box
· It is neither “original”, nor spontaneous or unpredictable
· It is not “moody” and is a compulsive “respond as per “installed program”
The Big Hoax
Do you remember Y2K? In a nutshell, it was super-intelligent folks telling us lowly mortals that chaos was around the corner. The wise guys that had made computer programs had forgotten to add the complete year (YYYY) in the internal clock of the devices and had used only the last two digits of a year that is (YY).
This meant that come 1 January 2000, after 31 December 1999, the computers would get confused and mistake it for 1900 and will calculate interest and other financial transactions not for a month or a year for 99 or 100 years.
This threat was “released” a few years before 1999 by the wise guys. The resulting panic led to the birth of a massive industry of “upgrades” that cost billions of dollars to panicked enterprises.
And guess what happened to “non-compliant” computers, when 1 January 2000 came? Nothing — they did not confuse the years and did not make any wrong calculations. And a few weeks and months down the line the hoax was conveniently buried from our collective memory — while a few super-rich IT companies became richer and millions of suckers wasted money to save themselves from a non-existent threat.
The case of AI is no different.
What AI or Robot Does Not Have?
The core handicap for machines or Artificial intelligence is that it does not have a human body and it does not possess human emotions. This is a serious limitation that makes AI world-view lopsided and restricted. Emotions in humans are not their weakness but a key driving force. No emotions mean no desire, no willpower, no passion, no drive and no inspiration. It is our emotions that are the driver that leads our mind in whatever direction we want.
The other constraint for AI is the lack of imagination. All great advancements in art, science, music, philosophy and civilization have come from imagination. Humans imagine, envision or have inspiration before they create or discover anything that leads to breakthroughs in technology or art.
Where scientists fail and limit themselves is by trying to mimic the human mind with AI, with little or no attention to replicating human emotions or human drive. This is sure to lead to fantastic failure in their attempt to try to create a “better or superior human” with AI-powered robots or androids.
The Human Touch and Valley Syndrome
The machine will never love you back.
For the simple reason that it does not knows, comprehend or “feel” love. A human can sacrifice his or her life for a partner, child, country, religion or idea — a concept, feeling or emotion beyond a machine's understanding or ability. You must have heard or read about “The Uncanny Valley” the famous essay on robots by Masahiro Mori. Simply put, it argues that the moment a human realises the “creepiness” of a humanoid robot, their response will change from empathy to revulsion.
Compliant Servant vs. Rebellious Partner
To extend it further, human repulsion and fear will further multiply by the “imitation” of love or understanding or the pretence of the same by a robot. If the robot is a compliant and obedient servant, you will soon get bored of it as your sexual partner or friend. If it is “difficult” or shows its “personality” and tantrums, you will feel it is not worth the effort. You are bound to feel that dealing with a demanding yet more natural and pleasure-giving human partner is much better. In short, it is the issue of the unpredictability of humans vs. the conformity of machines.
AI = Creative Genius or a Poor Slogger?
There are uncanny similarities between the Y2K hoax and the current AI and robotics bandwagon. The “super-intelligent” and “futurists” are again telling us lowly mortals that AI and robots are advancing at superfast speed and in a few years will become better than humans.
You may call it a chequered view but as a writer, I have worked with the few AI-powered “writing tools” that have left me unimpressed”. There is little originality in the work of AI writing tools and they merely pick up chunks of the existing content on the internet and try to spin in. This is no different from what “SEO sweatshops” were doing the same in an amateur manner a couple of years ago.
AI lack the “understanding” or “depth” that human writing for human reading can achieve. The creativity or genius of the level of Shakespeare, William Blake, Goethe, Charles Dickens, Enid Blyton or Arthur Conan Doyle is inborn and cannot be copied by any computer program — no matter how advanced. Their art was influenced by their life experience and the limitations that they wanted to overcome.
As Dante wrote in Inferno, “I found that I was in a gloomy wood because the path which led aright was lost.”
Look and evaluate closely, the supposed AI triumphs in the creative field are either exaggerated or intelligently plagiarised versions of existing art at best. Let us challenge any of the “AI monks” to show us the evidence to the contrary and we will stand corrected.
Machines, AI and Robotics — Hits and Miss
When it comes to organised, neat and disciplined ways of doing things, machines and AI score. However, this can only be for mundane or complicated tasks that are clearly defined. Industrial and commercial and domestic robots can do routine jobs better than humans. Think of it as the advanced version of calculators where 2+2 always equals 4. When you keep on adding numbers — it becomes increasingly difficult for humans and easier for the machine to calculate.
But the moment you deal with complicated concepts or emotions the AI fails. The reason is simple, nothing in the machine or AI’s learning or program can help it understand Art or abstract. It cannot create stories that appeal to the human mind and psyche because it is a foreign concept for it. It cannot and will never understand philosophy, let alone create it but it has never had the same thoughts, fears and emotions as humans or the experience of the “human condition”.
Holy Grail and Creating life
The jury is still out on the issue…did a human scientist accidentally created life and was it suppressed by the Church or religious and political authority of the day? However, we can say with certainty that as of today and as things stand there is no realistic chance of AI ever replacing humans fully.
Movies like Matrix are good cinema, as are dozens of other Sc.Fi. movies, web series and books. But you can only think of them as precursors of things to come at your own risk. AI replacing humans brings us to the fundamental question of what being humans and what life is all about. Unless we can address and answer that there is little chance of a human creation replacing its master. After all, Artificial intelligence is just a “creation” of its “creator” that tries to model it in its own image.
What Matt Damon says in the movie Good Will Hunting could easily apply to an AI-powered robot lover:
“But you couldn’t tell me how it feels to wake up next to a woman and be truly happy.”
