What is the next major advancement in technology? Man invented the wheel and now the iPhone. Robotic machinery was invented to serve mankind doing repetitive tasks accurately and with no mistakes. The idea of robots though as substitute people has been advanced in Japan … robots no longer just being used in a utilitarian capacity but now becoming … real people, real people, friends, playmates maybe even replacements for children, husbands and wives. When your human child creates chaos they go to timeout; when the robot throws a rod they get repaired, reprogrammed or turned off. Who needs the aggravation of real life with real problems?
Maybe Mattel’ s next big project could be Robo-Barbie and Robo-Ken. They would look like a full-sized child or even adults and will have many different features, which will allow the parents or the children to have endless fun. Robo-Barbie and Robo-Ken will be the next hot toy… a technological toy that everyone wants.
Picture you lying in bed late at night and one of those info-commercials comes on:
No longer will your children be faced with sex and drug enticements. The Robo-Twins are a great alternative to that crabby old best friend. The Robots can even babysit.
Barbie and Ken could also be a teacher, a friend, a lover. They could teach the alphabet and even read to you. You could load books on to their hard drive and they could read out loud to your child. While Robo-Barbie and Robo-Ken will surpass the Turing Test designed for adults, you will also come to love them as much as your children.
The new improved Barbie and Ken is a toy you can take anywhere and not worry about being lonely. They would have real life features like eyes that blink, a heartbeat, and even fake blood. You can choose from different sized Robo-Barbies and Robo-Kens. Choose the size, the color, the race, be the first on your block. You could even choose Baby Robo-Barbie. If you wanted to you could feed them and they could fake pee and poop, and you could change its diaper if you wanted. It would act almost like a real life human.” Or as the advertisement might say: “Maybe you don’t need real children; you just need Robo-Barbie.”
Will robo-technology be an advancement to serve humans or a substitute for human interaction? Will humans find it easier to live with the perfect sister, son, or husband? Can robo-technology transplant Robo-Barbie in our affections where love has no downside? Can we create a robot with a soul? More questions than answers?
Wow the technology is pretty cool! I would see no real difference with today then having robots. I mean people can already have online relationships and families through games. I certainly wouldn't get one except to be a butler or something. Its a robot. To me this reminds me of that movie Bicentennial Man and thats kind of cool. I think human emotions would makes us think it has a soul and the definition of a soul is different for everyone. Personally, I dont cry when my ipod runs out of power and since a robot is just mechanics and clockwork I wouldnt define it has having a soul.
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