an philosofik question

[ozner1991]

i had an litte debate with an friend about this question in school and now im wondering what you guys would think:thinking:

oke the question: if you fall inlove with someone and they turn out to be an robot programmed to feel love is it real?

we had an diffrence because some people said no its an robot while others said for the robot its programmed

now what do you think?

(i might add other questions later depending how this thread goes)

 

[nerdgineer]

Re: an philosofic question

My 2 cents: assuming "it" refers to your love, yes. Love is a feeling and yours is real. Maybe not workable but is subjectively as real as any other love you feel (Lindsay Lohan, a Surefire U2, whatever...and maybe about as transitory).

If "it" is the robot's love, there are underlying questions:

1. How do you program a robot to feel love? And underlying that,

2. How do you program a robot to feel?

 

[StarHalo]

Re: an philosofic question

This question is usually framed as being either a problem with the human lover or a limitation of the autonomic one, but once you refine the computer beyond a certain point, there's no longer any way to discern its thought processes from a humans'.

Two little known pieces of the puzzle: We know from very basic extrapolations of the historical progress of processing power that by the year 2020, you will for one thousand dollars be able to buy a personal computer with roughly the same processing power as the human brain. Also, reverse engineering of the problem-solving circuitry of the human brain has lead to great advances in artificial intelligence, which will continue to be refined by computer design (a computer that's as powerful as a human brain can constantly "think" about how to improve itself..).

So eventually by merging the hardware and software together, you'll have a full "virtual brain" that exactly mimics the processes of the human brain all the way down to the neuron level; What this virtual brain thinks and feels is as not only as real as the human mind, but it's exactly the same thing - any test you could devise to deduce/discern what is human thought and what is computer thought would be unable to see any difference between the two.

 

[ozner1991]

Re: an philosofic question

atleast 2 people that atleast think about this. in class is was "no its an robot it cant feel"

i think that the robot is programmed (donno how) to feel and love so for the robot the love is real and since you are inliove with the robot it is real for you to

 

[Lee1959]

Re: an philosofic question

I believe, could be wrong, that I read they have proven that 'falling in love" is more than simply a function of the human brain. It involves certain chemical, hormonal, and physiological changes and responces. If this is the case, a robot would not have these physiological responces so I believe that no, it would not be the exact same thing. Now a cyborg ...

 

[StarHalo]

Re: an philosofic question

atleast 2 people that atleast think about this. in class is was "no its an robot it cant feel"

My response wasn't a "no", but rather was an "indiscernible" - If you can deduce what love is by human action/reaction, then anything that exactly mimics it will produce the same results in any sort of testing or deduction.

It's like trying to figure out if someone arrived at a particular destination using a fold-out map or a GPS; the GPS is now so able and refined that there's no way to tell.

 

[Thujone]

Re: an philosofic question

I would just like to note the improper use of 'an' in place of 'a'. That's all

 

[mossyoak]

Re: an philosofic question

Its filisofik...

And Ive been dating a robot for a while

 

[ozner1991]

Re: an philosofic question

i know you didnt give a decicive awnser but atleast you thought about your opinion. in school it was an automatic awnser. "its an robot it could never feel"

 

[mudman cj]

I think it comes down to your definition of love. Some consider love to be a state and not just a feeling.

For example, if you feel that you are in love with a con artist that takes you for all of your possessions one day while you are out of the house, and a note explains that she never loved you, then were you really in love or did you just think you were?

 

[TedTheLed]

a sensitive human man of fine distinctions could never really love a robot, that said, silicone or saline??

 

[ozner1991]

were talking about love not flesh

 

[LED BriCK]

Robot love? Haven't you ever seen the PSA on "Electro-Gonorrhea, The Noisy Killer"?

 

[ozner1991]

no.... why?

 

[LED BriCK]

Just a joke- Futurama reference.

 

[binky]

It's like those guys said above: "First question the question."

Then go watch Blade Runner.

 

[prof]

Fascinating.

First, do some research on artificial intelligence. This will help you understand current state of the art. Second, decide what "love" means. I can think of multiple meanings.

There is a lot of research on AI--some of the older stuff is good. However keep in mind that most AI is aimed at decision-making, not emotion. I can imagine a computer programmed to emulate human emotion (one definition of AI is simulating human decision-making processes) but I'm not sure the computer would ever "feel" love--unless we have a large unexpected breakthrough.

By the way, processing power does not equate with thinking or feeling. No matter how powerful the machine, it's still a machine. As of yet, computers do not have emotions and do not think. Even those that seem to make decisions (consider the IBM chess computer big blue) just follow a set of rules. Sometimes they just examine all possible combinations.

If you want to discuss further, let me know. I'm an IS professor and do teach a bit of this (not my area exactly, but I do cover it a bit).

Besides, do you really want a SO based on an OS like, say, Vista? I can hear it now "Dear, I'm locked up again. Please reboot me."

 

[ozner1991]

atleast it will have an off switch

but your point is the best one i got. an computer is programmed to make dicisions not to feel (yet) then we come to the point what is feeling?

 

[nitesky]

Look up "Helen O'Loy." This issue has come up in the SF community.

 

[LuxLuthor]

When the artificial intelligence is packaged like this, you will feel love.