Essay

Robots: Demons or heroes?

By Hal Richard

Despite not being so scientifically minded, I nonetheless like to keep up with developments in the field of technology, especially in Japan where they occur so frequently.

One subject I try to keep an eye on is robot technology, as I expect this to be an important aspect of our lives in the future. Currently, one of the big projects occupying Japanese scientists is the development of robots that can act as caregivers for the elderly. From photos I have seen of some of these, they look rather stiff and mechanical but have been given smiling faces. I remember a few years ago a robot was being developed here that looked exactly like a Japanese woman, not just the face but the whole body, including her clothes. Talking to Japanese friends, it seems that for many people here, robots are considered friendly, helpful things, and therefore it is very important that they look friendly.

In the West, we share Japan's fascination with robots, and enjoy the benefits that such technology can bring, but behind this fascination lie a number of fears and worries. First of all, there is their appearance. Even though many robots are created with a vaguely human form — two legs, two arms and a head — we inevitably focus on the differences: the angular head, or the stiff, unnatural way of walking. Then there is their nature. We tend to equate the mechanical with remoteness, coldness and lack of feeling. If this is the case, you may think one solution would perhaps be to give these robots more human-like features and qualities, like they often have in Japan. But for many Westerners, even if they may be uncomfortable with the remoteness of robots, it is still easier to deal with them if they look like machines — after all, the only thing more scary than a machine is a machine disguised as a human.

If you watch almost any science-fiction films from the West, robots, even if they are meant to help people, invariably turn out to be a threat to mankind. They can malfunction, or if they develop emotions or other human traits, such as the computer HAL in "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), they can turn against us. Yet in Japanese fiction, few, if any, robot stories turn out this way. Tetsuwan Atomu (called Astro Boy abroad) is a loveable robot boy and Doraemon is a robot made in the form of a cute-looking cat. I am still trying to find out why it is that Japanese people have more of an openness to robots than we could ever hope to have in the West, but for now all I know is robots are invariably heroes for the Japanese public, not the demons they often are for us.

Shukan ST: Aug. 22, 2008

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