3.11+Robotics,+artificial+intelligence+and+expert+systems


 * 3.11 Robotics, artificial intelligence and expert systems**


 * Introduction**

The increasing capability of IT systems has allowed developers to implement systems that attempt to understand and imitate human behaviour. These systems have already had profound effects on society, although their effectiveness is largely determined by the accuracy of the algorithms that underpin them.

The increasing use of robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and expert systems raises a range of ethical issues. For example, at which point should humans hand over key decision-making to a computer? Should robots have the same rights as humans? What social impacts might arise with the replacement of human workers or the creation of smart weapons?


 * IT concepts to address in this topic**

For the following, describe each and how they are used in a robot. Can you find an example of each?

What the video linked here.


 * Robotics and Artificial intelligence**

Read Tomorrow's Technology and You p. 551 - 575 & Ethics for the Information Age p. 443 - 453

From the video and from the text, answer these questions: >> >> >>
 * Why would someone designing a robot want to include input devices such as cameras, sensors, and microphones?
 * To allow robot to communicate with human and ability to see and work by themselves. They can work independently without the help or control by human.
 * Why would someone designing a robot want to include output devices such as claws, wheels, motors, relays, speakers?
 * To hold things or carry things from one place to another and communicate with human.
 * Why would someone designing a robot want to include sensors such as heat, proximity, magnetism, light, humidity, and pH?
 * For the safety concern of a certain area or place. Robots will be able to detect with these sensors to prevent human's working or living area to be safe and comfortable.
 * What is the difference between an android, cyborg, and humanoid? Or are there any?
 * Android is robot that has human appearance. They are made to look and act like a human being. (e.g. Korea KITECH had developed EveR-2 that has the ability to sing)
 * Cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts (man and machine system). Organisms use technology to increase their normal abilities in doing things and sometimes apply to organisms that use technology to repair their physical or mental condition.
 * Humanoid not necessarily has to be a robot. It can be any being that has the appearance and characteristics of human.

>> >>
 * Man or machine: The Turing test, CAPTCHA (completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart). What is the turing test? How is it used to determine whether what you interact with is human or machine?
 * The CAPTCHA Turing test is widely used to test whether the responses are from human. The most common CAPTCHA test requires users to enter the letters or digits that appears to be distorted on the screen. This test allows people to determine whether it is interacting with human or machines. Random distorted images can only be read by human and current computer programs are not able to read them to access certain webpages.
 * Should robots have the same rights as humans?
 * I think robots should have rights eventually. Presently, robots are replacing humans for many working area such as the assembly lines in factories. Robots are capable of working for a very long time and will never get tired or sick or go on strike like human. Also, they are much faster and effective in working as they will not repeat the same error. Robots help to lower the costs of production as well because they do not need to get paid. There are many arguments about how machines are just memories of human's knowledge and experience; or we haven't fully understand how our human brains work and yet people are trying to create robots that will outsmart us in the future. However, things that we thought were impossible in the past few years had become possible these days, so will robots become alive like humans? I think they will, technologies are evolving rapidly every year, our thinking and life will response to the changing of technologies and eventually we will change our beliefs. Therefore one day, robots may have rights like human.
 * What social impacts might arise with the replacement of human workers or the creation of smart weapons?
 * Some jobs will be destroyed but it will creates more jobs at the same time. More skilled workers are needed to control the machines or invent better machines. When a product's demand increases as the cost of production decreases from the replacement of labor, factories actually need more workers to satisfy the demand. Overall, more jobs will be created even though some might be replaced by the robots because we still need labors to do work when number of machines are limited and we need more skilled people to research and develop better machines for the future.