"If I didn't have a knife, I wouldn't be able to protect you. If I had a knife, I wouldn't be able to hug you." The movie "Edward Scissorhands" tells the poignant love story of Edward, a robot with a pair of scissorhands, and a woman who falls in love but can't stay together, moving many people. The story of humans and robots has always been one of the sources of inspiration for creators. With the rapid rise of artificial intelligence research and development technology, there is no shortage of real-life "Edward Scissorhands" who are in love with humans. So, can humans relate to robots or physical dolls? Is this "wishful thinking" a good or bad thing?
The Best Brothers From The Dead
In the shadow of a terrorist attack in Iraq in 2013, a funeral is being held at a U.S. military base an hour from Baghdad when an explosion takes away their beloved comrade, a metal robot. The robot, affectionately called Boomer by the soldiers, was responsible for searching for landmines and saving many lives in his lifetime. In this dusty, devastated place, a group of iron men thus concluded a deep friendship with a cold robot. When Boomer is no longer able to fight alongside them, the soldiers mourn him as they would a dead pet.
A Good Companion Over Time
In 2017, five robotic dolls retired as CBC's exclusive "letter carriers" after a 25-year career of delivering mail, making cute noises, and occasionally bumping into colleagues. cake, balloons and a short farewell video, but also a message card that read, "Thank you for making every day so memorable."
The collaborative relationship between humans and robot dolls is evident from the two short stories above. The experts who design robots not only devote themselves to making the product our right-hand man, but also take into account the sensory needs, such as the companion robot Sophia, who became a Saudi citizen and has a pretty face. However, not all robots are "inherently cute"; most are just non-human, non-speaking metal mechanical objects. Why do humans still have feelings for robots?
Human Compassion　
A 2015 study by a team of researchers at Toyohashi University of Technology and Science in Japan, published in Scientific Reports, provided the first neurophysiological evidence that humans develop emotions for sex dolls. Researchers at the time asked testers to view separate pictures of humans and physical dolls with cut fingers, and the results showed that testers felt similar empathy for both humans and physical dolls. MIT in the United States has conducted a similar experiment. The people tested interacted with a small mechanical dinosaur called Pleo, and then they were asked to destroy it, and all of them refused. People subconsciously tend to think of them as creatures, although on a rational level we fully understand that it is not really a creature.
Tendency To Personify Objects
These seemingly unlikely feelings occur mainly because of the natural human tendency to personify everything, whether it be ordinary plants and animals, inanimate objects, or nebulous gods. If humans take this tendency to the extreme, it is very likely that they will have genuine feelings for robots or physical dolls.
Reluctance To Be In The Company Of Solitude
Another common reason for this is that people are afraid of being alone. Humans have lived on earth for millions of years as pack animals and are driven by nature to seek out companionship and build relationships. If this need cannot be met among our own kind, it is pinned on other humanoid non-living things, which include robots or physical dolls. Wired has reported on a retired professor who lives alone and uses his family's floor-sweeping robot as a companion.
Is It Good Or Bad To Have Feelings?
Once they are given a human face, our relationship with them becomes as close to other humans, and the potential risks come with it. Imagine if bomb disposal robots were bonded to soldiers, who might sacrifice their lives to save their fellow robots. In addition, the weapons "killer robots" being developed by EU countries could also threaten human and world security. On the whole, it is certainly a good thing for humans to have a strong bond with humanoid non-living things. Nanotechnology scientist Osborne pointed out that robots have some obvious superhuman qualities, such as the ability to correct human errors in the workplace and improve efficiency. Even if people know that "they" will not know this relationship, at least they enjoy it.
There is a professional opinion that it is good for people and them to have a relationship, but there is a condition - Japan's Toyohashi University of Science and Technology professor Kitazaki also pointed out: "I think if people and humanoid non-living things are pro-social, the future society of people and them is good. Having compassion for them, as well as for humans, facilitates pro-social behavior. Robots and physical dolls that help us or interact with us should have humans to empathize with."
