Emotions

After reading the Woodward piece I only have one way to respond. I don’t buy into all this talk about computers and machines and robots having feelings is absurd to me. They are not real living things therefore they cannot have feelings. I don’t think that computers will eventually be able to show emotion and exhibit feelings and all that accompanies those two. Yes humans might be able to program machines to show the concepts of emotions but for computers to actually feel on their own and create their own emotions seems impossible to me. I feel that emotions are things that people know innately and just experience them in whatever experience causes them to show up. I think that for a computer to have the understanding of emotions there would have to be too much human involvement and programming which then changes the nature of what the emotions really are.

Additionally I personally don’t want machines that display emotions. Do I want a computer that is going to say “I’m having a horrible day” and get all sad and depressed on me. NO! If I wanted that I am sure I could find a friend that was having a bad day and could provide the emotion for me. Also I don’t want computers or machines that make up their own minds on what to do because they have their own emotions and feelings for the situation at hand. Do I want a car that is going to stop because the road ahead is too high and scary or too dangerous. NO! I want a car that gets me from point a to point b and wherever else I want to go without questions. Having a car that had its own emotions would be like having a backseat driver in control of the car and nobody wants that. I think this whole idea of emotions and computers is absurd and dread the fact that there are people who actually want things like this to exist. All I can think of when I think about computers that have feelings is that Disney Channel movie “Smart House” where the house has a computer that can do anything in the house. Eventually the house goes crazy and tries to take over the life of the family and the family stops it because the computer is not real and cannot provide the same things as a real person. In the movie the parents protect the kids when the house is going crazy and that is something that a computer just can’t do. Although this is just a movie, I think that it illustrates perfectly the way I feel about the whole idea of machines and computers with emotions.

Emergence

The chapter on emergence was an interesting chapter to me. I found it kind of hard to follow everything that was being discussed surrounding the whole idea of emergence and artificial life but I will try to give it a go. The thing that struck me most in the chapter on emergence was the reference to the Langton quote that emergence “refers to the complex high-level consequences of low-level rule based interactions.” This quote to me is a great description of computers and other high tech devices. When I think of computers and other such devices I think of the different pieces that come together to create the device. Each of the key components for a technology device is a low-level rule based “particle” and when they are all combined they become a complex high-level “particle” such as a computer or a cell phone. Although the parts that make up phones are complex when they come together they become an even more complex device that fits the definition. I know that I have changed it a little bit from interactions and consequences to “particles” as I chose to use but I still think it is the same thing. The parts are interactions and when they come together they become high-level consequences such as a computer.

I also found this quote to be interesting-“Natural life emerges out of the organized actions of a great number of nonliving molecules.” I think that if in this class we are going to think of computers as becoming or being living things than this quote would play a large part in it. I don’t think we can classify a computer as natural life but if we are going to say it is living then the rest of the quote becomes useful. When a computer is functional it is the “organized actions of a great number of nonliving molecules.” Think about a computer or phone or any high tech device and think about all the tiny parts that are vital to the device if it is going to work properly. There are a bunch of nonliving molecules inside any technological device and when they come together in “organized actions” they create something that some people claim are living things.

Selves

The Nakamura article for this week discusses the idea of representation of oneself on the internet. The examples of these online “communities” that Nakamura looks at show how people represent themselves how they want to. The one “community” LambdMOO allows people to choose from four different genders, which is two more than are in society. Allowing people to choose different genders illustrates the way in which deception is so easy on the internet. Who is to say someone is being accurate when the chose a gender for an internet community profile, and what exactly do these two other genders mean. With as large and yet secluded as the internet is, it is very easy for a person to say they are so-so a female form California when really they are a male in Kentucky. This creates all sorts of problems for internet communities.

When I was reading this article I could not help but think of all the times I have seen in television about people misrepresenting themselves on the internet and then getting in trouble with the law or even kids pretending to be older and getting themselves in physical danger. I know people who on their myspace profiles say they are 20 or so and are actually in high school. Cases like this can lead to serious problems because there are so many weird people on the internet. When I have noticed friends who have misrepresented their age, my cousin for one, I have made a point of telling them to change because of the dangers that lurk. I also know people who have completely fake profiles and the purpose is just to mess with their friends and that is it. But the reality is there are people out there who have set up a fake profile with the intent of luring a child or luring an adult. The fact that it is so easy to misrepresent yourself on the internet is a scary thing and if I were a parent I don’t know if I would want my kids having the access to the internet and online communities that they do. I know that I feel comfortable with the profiles I have at myspace and facebook because I consider myself to be an intelligent person and do not allow friends that I do not know. I have seen first hand a friend’s fake profile where they have received weird messages from people claiming to know them and wanting to hang out and it is really weird because I know the profile is fake so these people are lying. The internet, as amazing as it is and as useful and fun as it is can be is still a scary space. The fact that people can create an image of themselves that is not accurate is frightening and very uncomforting. As secure as I feel in my use of the internet there is still so much uncertainty and danger that is out there.