In this blog post, I reflected on what the advancement of robotics might mean for humanity, based on the possibility of robots emerging with human-like emotions, intelligence, and judgment.
The movie ‘Bicentennial Man’ features a robot that dreams of becoming human and, at the same time, longs to be recognized as one. This robot can feel and express a wide range of emotions—such as joy and sadness—just like a human, and possesses the ability to make judgments based on its own thoughts. Watching the film, one not only gets the sense that such a robot shares romantic feelings with humans and dreams of becoming human, but also finds it familiar and relatable. However, this raised a question for me. Would a robot with human-like reason and emotions, just as depicted in the movie, truly dream of serving humans, harmonizing with them out of goodwill, and coexisting peacefully? I do not believe that robots would aspire to be like humans—who are relatively fragile compared to them—or live for the sake of humans. In fact, I think that if such robots were to emerge, they might instead recognize humanity’s weaknesses and pose a threat to us. Starting from this question, I reflected on what the advancement of robotics—which creates robots with human-like emotions, intelligence, and judgment—might mean for humanity through the theme of “robots that dream of being human.”
I believe it is difficult for everyone to accurately recognize the potential for misuse of an invention and to prevent its side effects in advance. Take dynamite, for example: Nobel invented gunpowder to benefit humanity. However, while it helped people, it also became a weapon capable of mass destruction, threatening human life. Based on this, I believe that even today, as robot development accelerates, we may be overlooking the risks associated with excessive robot development. Even if we do recognize these risks, I believe we might fail to take them seriously or give them due consideration if we remain trapped in a short-sighted mindset focused solely on gaining a competitive edge in the global robotics market and enhancing our robotic capabilities. Of course, if humans can accurately identify and understand a future in which they might face danger, they will do their utmost to prevent it and ensure that such risks do not materialize. However, if we persist in an attitude that is overly focused on development and fails to look far into the future, by the time we wake up to the reality, robot artificial intelligence might have reached a level nearly identical to that of humans and could be posing a threat to us.
As mentioned in the introduction, I do not believe that robots—which possess the ability to think and make judgments based on their own volition—dream of becoming human. Robots do not feel pain. At the same time, since their lifespan is not limited, they are capable of living indefinitely. Superior intelligence, immense strength, and boundless stamina are also capabilities possessed by robots. In contrast, human life is finite. Whether we want it or not, we will all face death. Furthermore, if anyone works excessively and overexerts themselves, fatigue accumulates in the body, leading to weakness. I do not believe that only Emperor Qin Shi Huang—who is said to have sent young children all the way to Jeju Island in search of the elixir of life—dreamed of eternal life. Even if it’s not exactly eternal life, most humans desire a long life free from illness. I believe that this human aspiration to live a long and healthy life is driving the continuous advancements in modern medicine, such as artificial organs and organ transplants. Given this, most advanced robots would likely not want to give up their superior intelligence and strength—as well as their infinite lifespan—to become human. Rather, they are likely to recognize their superiority over humans and exploit it. For example, in ‘The Matrix 3’, there are scenes where machines extract the energy they need from humans. Of course, this is a fictional scenario within the movie, but I believe that robots might cease to assist humans and instead seek to dominate them from a position of superiority.
The original reason people began creating machines and robots was likely to make their lives more convenient, or because they needed entities to perform tasks that were difficult or dangerous for humans to do directly. However, as this development—which began out of necessity—continues to advance endlessly, we need to remain vigilant about the potential dangers that the advancement of cutting-edge robots could bring. Furthermore, I believe we must recognize that managing and controlling robots created with such technology is far more difficult than developing the technology itself, and that such technological progress must be pursued with caution.
