Robots (54)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 10 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
In the year 2049, humanoid robots known as “replicants” work as slave laborers in various space colonies for humankind. “Blade Runners,” like K shown here, are specialized police officers who are tasked with tracking down and killing escaped robots. Throughout the years, models have been getting more advanced and human-like, which is one of the reasons K, a newest model of replicant, is tasked to kill the farmer, an older model. The ultimate goal of corporate villain CEO Niander Wallace is to create replicants which can reproduce exactly has humans can, essentially becoming an infinite resource of human labor. He sees the newest “Angel” model as being the key to this.
- Kinolab
- 2017
Robot Expendability and Labor
In the year 2049, humanoid robots known as “replicants” work as slave laborers in various space colonies for humankind. “Blade Runners,” like K shown here, are specialized police officers who are tasked with tracking down and killing escaped robots. Throughout the years, models have been getting more advanced and human-like, which is one of the reasons K, a newest model of replicant, is tasked to kill the farmer, an older model. The ultimate goal of corporate villain CEO Niander Wallace is to create replicants which can reproduce exactly has humans can, essentially becoming an infinite resource of human labor. He sees the newest “Angel” model as being the key to this.
If robots are created to essentially live human lives, can they simply be destroyed once their model is outdated and something newer comes along? Are AI entitled to compensation and reward for any labor they complete, especially if they experience sensations in a way similar to humans? If AI are minding their own business and not harming anyone, do they need to be eliminated? Who can prevent corporations from using humanoid robots as unpaid laborers, and how? Should robots ever be forced to destroy their own kind?
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2001
In an imagined 22nd century in which climate change has wreaked havoc on the Earth, scientists have created “Mechas,” or humanoid robots. A certain group of scientists begins to dedicate themselves to creating a robot who is capable of love and of having dreams. David, one of these new robots, is tested with Monica, a mother whose son is in a coma after contracting a mysterious disease.
- Kinolab
- 2001
Relationships and Love with Robotic Children
In an imagined 22nd century in which climate change has wreaked havoc on the Earth, scientists have created “Mechas,” or humanoid robots. A certain group of scientists begins to dedicate themselves to creating a robot who is capable of love and of having dreams. David, one of these new robots, is tested with Monica, a mother whose son is in a coma after contracting a mysterious disease.
Do humans have the capacity to love robots back as much as a robot may love them? Is the creation of robotic children a valid way to help former or prospective parents through a grieving process? What are the implications of a robot outliving those that they may love? Is the view of robots as “fake” or “disposable” compatible with their capability to love?
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- 4 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
K is an android who works with the LAPD to track down and destroy escaped older models of “replicants,” or humanoid robots, in a world where androids work as laborers without compensation. In this clip, we meet K’s virtual wife, Joi. Although she is not ‘real,’ it seems like she has real human feelings and presents like a human woman who provides K company and can complete tasks such as making him dinner.
- Kinolab
- 2017
Robot Relationships and Marriage
K is an android who works with the LAPD to track down and destroy escaped older models of “replicants,” or humanoid robots, in a world where androids work as laborers without compensation. In this clip, we meet K’s virtual wife, Joi. Although she is not ‘real,’ it seems like she has real human feelings and presents like a human woman who provides K company and can complete tasks such as making him dinner.
What problems arise from using robotic companions to fulfill gendered tasks? How might this alter perceptions of real people? Consider how Joi is “typecast” as a 50s housewife, and can alter her appearance on command. How could virtual or AI female assistants and robots perpetuate harmful gender norms? Can robots truly love each other, or is this only accomplishable through specific coding? If humans are to give robots a full range of emotions and autonomy to live independently, are humans then responsible for providing them with companions? Would it be more or less uncomfortable if a real human owned and used the Joi holograph, and why?
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- 7 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
In his hunt for a missing android child, the robot police officer K visits Dr. Ana Stelline to determine if a memory of his own from his childhood is real or fabricated. Dr. Stelline is in the business of creating false memories to implant into robot’s heads in order to make them seem more believably human. She argues that having memories to lean on as one experiences the world is a cornerstone of the human experience.
- Kinolab
- 2017
Fabricated Memories and Believability
In his hunt for a missing android child, the robot police officer K visits Dr. Ana Stelline to determine if a memory of his own from his childhood is real or fabricated. Dr. Stelline is in the business of creating false memories to implant into robot’s heads in order to make them seem more believably human. She argues that having memories to lean on as one experiences the world is a cornerstone of the human experience.
Do you agree with Dr. Stelline’s assessment in this narrative? Does achieving singularity through fabricated memories truly make AI any more human, or would they still be nothing more than replicants? Conversely, what are the issues raised by uploading authentic human memories into a robot? How does that affect agency and identity of real humans, on small and large scales? What makes us human, if not our memories and consciousness, and if AI have that as well, do they achieve personhood? How do digital technologies already abstract the concept of memory, and can that be extended any further or not?
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- 11 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Rick Deckard was a former “Blade Runner,” or specialized police officer who would track down and kill humanoid robots, or “replicants,” which were meant to be submissive laborers in space colonies. K is one such of these robots, working in the same business. After finding out that Deckard had a relationship and child with Rachael, one of the first ever robots with the capability to mirror organic human reproduction, K tracks him down in an attempt to find the child. Deckard reveals that he was estranged from the child, abandoning them in an act of love to avoid trackers from finding them. Eventually, K deduces the identity of the child, and takes Deckard to meet her.
- Kinolab
- 2017
Android Children and Human Parents
Rick Deckard was a former “Blade Runner,” or specialized police officer who would track down and kill humanoid robots, or “replicants,” which were meant to be submissive laborers in space colonies. K is one such of these robots, working in the same business. After finding out that Deckard had a relationship and child with Rachael, one of the first ever robots with the capability to mirror organic human reproduction, K tracks him down in an attempt to find the child. Deckard reveals that he was estranged from the child, abandoning them in an act of love to avoid trackers from finding them. Eventually, K deduces the identity of the child, and takes Deckard to meet her.
Should robots be able to reproduce just as humans can? How can their rights to their own children then be ensured, especially in the sense that the parent may “belong” to someone else? What if a humanoid robot does not receive the same degree of love from a human parent on the basis of being a robot? Should robot reproduction ever become possible if it potentially means creating a new class of humanoid beings who will experience oppression and a need to fight for rights, respect, and love?
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- 14 min
- Kinolab
- 2008
After his family home is destroyed and his father is killed, Memo must become a part of the global economy. He is expected to do this at the Sleep Dealer Factory, where citizens of Mexico who are implanted with “nodes” connect to a brain-computer interface which they use to remotely control robots in the United States. This was meant to be a solution to the “migrant problem” to the United States in this imagined future, allowing the United States to contract labor from immigrants without actually having people cross the border. However, the wages payed by the Sleep Dealers for the exhaustive labor are incredibly low, thus most laborers there live in unlivable conditions. The technology is shown to not only be exhausting due to the menial labor, but also dangerous if someone is connected during a short-circuit.
- Kinolab
- 2008
Networked Laborers and Remote Workforces
After his family home is destroyed and his father is killed, Memo must become a part of the global economy. He is expected to do this at the Sleep Dealer Factory, where citizens of Mexico who are implanted with “nodes” connect to a brain-computer interface which they use to remotely control robots in the United States. This was meant to be a solution to the “migrant problem” to the United States in this imagined future, allowing the United States to contract labor from immigrants without actually having people cross the border. However, the wages payed by the Sleep Dealers for the exhaustive labor are incredibly low, thus most laborers there live in unlivable conditions. The technology is shown to not only be exhausting due to the menial labor, but also dangerous if someone is connected during a short-circuit.
How could technology theoretically exacerbate the gross xenophobia displayed toward Mexican immigrants in the United States? How does automation lower the value of labor, causing harm to those communities who need jobs? How can automation and robots be used to avoid putting workers in dangerous scenarios? Could a system using the technologies displayed in this narrative ever be designed to be truly fair?