ENTERING THE CONVERSATION

1. According to Kevin Kelly (p. 910), James Barrat (p. 932), and Rosa Brooks (p. 936), should we fear robots in the future? Choose at least two of these authors and compare and contrast their views.

2. What might Kate Darling, whose research is discussed in Richard Fisher’s article “Is It OK to Torture or Murder a Robot?” (p. 917), have to say about Dr. Susan Calvin’s destruction of the robot in Isaac Asimov’s story “Robot Dreams” (p. 900)?

3. Compare and contrast how Isaac Asimov (p. 900) and Margaret Atwood (p. 905) view the relationships between robots and humans.

4. What are the differences between the positions of Francis Fukuyama (p. 928) and Ray Kurzweil, featured in the article by Arthur House (p. 921), regarding the issue of transhumanism?

1. Will our future be better or worse as a result of the inevitable increase in human-robot interactions? Or, to put it another way, as Margaret Atwood says in her piece in this Conversation, will the future “be a Yikes or a Hurrah” (p. 906)? Refer to at least two texts from the Conversation as evidence of support for your position.

2. Knowing that robots will play a larger role in the workplace of the future, what are the implications for education and workforce training? Be sure to refer to at least two texts in the Conversation.

3. The Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk is a British multidisciplinary research center dedicated to the study of risks that could lead to human extinction. One of the risks the group is studying is artificial intelligence:
   
   

   “It seems a reasonable prediction that some time in this or the next century intelligence will escape from the constraints of biology,” Prof. Price told the AFP news agency.

   “What we’re trying to do is to push it forward in the respectable scientific community.”

   He added that as robots and computers become smarter than humans, we could find ourselves at the mercy of “machines that are not malicious, but machines whose interests don’t include us.”

   Do you think that robots in the future will, in fact, lead an uprising and enslave humanity? Will they become our benevolent masters, faithful servants, or something in-between? Refer to at least two texts in the Conversation to support your argument and propose steps we ought to take in the future.

4. What rules, if any, should govern the use of robotic enhancements? Will they lead to physical and intellectual elitism? Why or why not? Refer to at least two texts in the Conversation to support your response.

5. Review the Three Laws of Robotics that science fiction author Isaac Asimov created to govern the actions of robots and their interactions with humans. Propose new laws or revisions to his laws, using two or more texts from the Conversation to support your recommendation.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or Second Law.