The invention of “chatterbots” has ultimately had a real impact on the development of technology through time. A chatterbot “is a computer program designed to simulate an intelligent conversation with one of more human users via auditory or textual methods.” (Wikipedia), most will remember the interaction of “Smarterchild” on the social networking messenger software MSN. There are many other examples of chatterbots such as “Eliza” and “A.L.I.C.E”, these formally all construct and deliver the same message.
A specific problem that has become noticeable through the development of technology is that as humans we affectively are becoming cyborgs. Instead of rationally thinking, we are using Google and other search engines. The majority of searches done daily, or weekly, ultimately we have more than likely done before. With this in mind, if we were to take a moment to think, we wouldn’t have to use the internet and our questions could be answered.
How does digital computing and cyberspace blur the boundaries between what we perceive to be human or machine? ….. A difficult question with a variety of answers, it may seem far fetched and slightly exaggerated, but it is noticeable that the boundaries are significantly blurred in comparison to years before. With relation to the development of chatterbots, this boundary is becoming blurred to a level where it would be possible to be unable to distinguish the difference between a human and a machine. The machines ability to construct a conversation with a human allows this distinction to become difficult, if not impossible. With this in mind though, surly there are some human qualities, in addition to basic conversation making, that machines will never be able to replicate. A human’s basic ability to think is an action I believe a machine can not complete, however this doesn’t affectively rule out the chances of it happening in the future.
This leads me onto my final point for this blog post which is the complex definition of a robot. One of many rhetorical questions which occurs almost instantly is Can you even define a robot? The invention of robots is increasing along side technologies development, so a simple definition of this product to society is virtually impossible. Overall, a robot is ultimately something that is pragmatic. A robot could be described and defined as an unmanned fighting platform for services in the army, this device could furthermore outfight humans. Generally they can have many different functions and capabilities. This proves my initial point that the definition of a robot is difficult, due it conforming to many different roles in society not just one. There is no denying the fact that robots are very much present in our lives, and without them we would not have as many functioning mechanisms as we do now.
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