Bicentennial Man Blog

Should an intelligent, free-willed robot be:

1. How would Andrew do on the Turing test before and after falling out of the window? Is the robot really intelligent like a human?
2. Considered alive or an “appliance”?
3. Be owned or is it a form of slavery?
4. Be allowed to marry humans?
5. Be considered an equal to humans; even if immortal
6. Will AI be good or bad?

In the movie Bicentennial Man, the main character (a robot named Andrew) gains intelligence and emotion over-time by learning from his human owners. The gain of intelligence is spurred by a fall from a second story window. When he landed, something in Andrew’s brain was jarred and he gained the ability to feel. The robot at first was unable to pass the Turing test, but after the fall he would be able to pass flawlessly.

I believe that if a robot is free-willed and intelligent, it should be considered alive; because if it wasn’t alive it wouldn’t be able to learn, show emotion, or impulsive tendencies in its activities. Because the robot is alive, it can learn right from wrong, dangerous from safe. In the movie, people are differentiated on their standpoints.

I do not believe it should be owned because it understands the concept of slavery and would show corresponding emotions as such. If the intellectual can understand things, but not slavery, it should be kept if it thinks it is indebted to its owner. If an object, person, or animal understands the concept of slavery, or forced ownership; that it is immorally wrong to own the object and therefore, must be set free. In the movie, Andrew was set free when he requested so.

I believe that robots should be able to marry humans if they have artificial human appearance and body (such as Andrew did) and also emotion. With these traits they wouldn’t be looked down on by the community, but rather they would blend in with their human counterparts. In the movie (obviously), Andrew was allowed to marry at the end.

I also believe that they should be considered equal to humanity if they gain the amount of intellect of a human without being programmed. This way, AI can realize their humanity. The movie says that people are biased if they should or shouldn’t.

I believe AI will be a good thing for humanity, but will probably be more like Flatline. AI will more than likely be used by humans to modify appearances of things, and manage the earth rather than as personal servants. The movie seemed to have a good opinion on AI. I believe AI will benefit society in numerous ways.