Debate: We Should Not Fear Robots

Kailey Morter

Professor Gillespie

Fundamentals of Speech

12/12/11

We Should Not Fear Robots

Attention Getter

            Last time I checked the paper or magazine I didn’t see robots falling in love and getting married; having human emotions.

Preview

            Today, my partner and I would like to give you two arguments on why we should not fear robots. 1. Robots limit cognizance. 2. There are not enough natural resources on earth to continue producing robots forever.

Rebuttal

Body

        I.            Robots have limited cognizance

A.      Cognizance is awareness, realization, or knowledge. The ability to notice and perceive something.

B.      According to the International Journal of Social Robotics, “Robots lack understanding of the users’ expectations, intentions, social signals, and actions.” (S. S. Ge, “Special Issue on Expectations, Intentions, and Actions”) There’s no reason robots should be feared when they can’t even understand our actions and reasoning.

C.      Humans are unlimited in cognizance.

1.      The human brain is far more intelligent than a robot could ever match up to be.

2.      The human brain is so complex that we as humans can’t even wrap our heads around it.

3.      According to ScientificAmerican.com, “Anyone who suggests that a robot will be able to exhibit the full range of human intellect probably understands little about the full range of human intellect.” (Kurzweil, “Smarter than Human Brains? Which Brains?”)

D.     Robots cannot do something that we did not teach them or know of in the first place.

E.      We cannot create a conscious robot.

1.      Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. Can be defined as the ability to feel and the executive control system of the mind

2.      Daniel Dennet states four reason on how it is impossible to create a conscious robot. (Dennet, “Consciousness in Human and Robot Minds”)

a.       Robots are purely material things, and consciousness requires immaterial mind-stuff

b.      Robots are inorganic (by definition), and consciousness can exist only in an organic brain

c.       Robots are artifacts, and consciousness abhors an artifact; only something natural, born not manufactured, could exhibit consciousness

d.      Robots will always just be much too simple to be conscious

      II.            We do not have enough natural resources on this earth to continue producing/making robots.

A.      Natural resources are anything people can use which comes from nature. People can’t make natural resources, but instead only gather them from the earth.

B.      Gold and silver are two natural resources used to produce robots.

1.      Silver

a.       Silver will eventually run out as well

b.      Adrian Douglas of MarketForceAnalysis.com says that, “The United States Geological Survey says silver will be the first on the periodical table to go extinct by as soon as 2020.” (Morgan, “Silver: Long term”) Without silver how are we going to produce these robots that we are so afraid of taking over our

2.      Gold

a.       Gold is an element that occurs naturally in the Earth.

b.      According to an article by People’s Daily, “With improvements in the people’s living standards, gold demand will continue to rise because most of them see the metal as a symbol of wealth.” (People’sDaily.com) With that we can say that the demand of gold will keep going up while the quantity of it will start to decline.

C.      Two examples of necessary parts in a robot that are made of natural resources are motherboards and microchips.

1.      Motherboards are made out of gold and silver. A motherboard is like a backplane, provides the electrical connections by which the other components of the system communicate, but unlike a backplane, it also connects the central processing unit and hosts other subsystems and devices.

2.      Microchips are also made out of gold and silver. A microchip is a small semiconductor used to relay information through specific electrical characteristics. According to wisegeek.com, “microchips are the heart of many electronics.” (WiseGeek.com)

Conclusion

            Since we now know that robots cannot nearly have as much intelligence and understanding as a human. We know that they will never exceed our instincts that God gave us as well as our knowledge. Since the natural resources used to produce robots are declining every day we can conclude that they will be declining in production in the future or will be stopped with the lack of proper materials. Therefore with that knowledge, robots should not be feared.

References

Dennet, Daniel C. “Consciousness in Human and Robot Minds.” ase.tufts.edu. 12/11/11 http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/papers/concrobt.html.

“Gold Minter Run out of Sites.” People’s Daily. 12/11/11 http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/english/200004/30/eng20000430_40065.html

Kurzweil, Ray. “Smarter than Human Brains? Which Brains?” Scientific American. 12/11/11 http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/2009/03/smarter-than-human-brains-which-brains.html.

Morgan, David. “Silver: Long term.” Resource Investor. Published 5/30/2009. 12/11/11 http://www.resourceinvestor.com/News/2009/5/Pages/Silver-Long-term.aspx.

S.S Ge. “Special Issue on Expectations, Intentions, and Actions.” International Journal of Social Robotics. ISSN: 1875-4805. Springer Verlag. 12/11/11. http://www.dfki.de/~zender/soro-eia/

“What is a Microchip?” wiseGeek.com. 12/11/11 http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-microchip.htm

Chapter Six Questions and Articles

Kailey Morter

Fundamentals of Speech

Professor Gillespie

12/5/11

Chapter Six Questions

1.      Why is it important to draw on your own knowledge and experience in gathering materials for your speeches?

·         Because we speak best about subjects with which we are familiar with. The information in which we know makes the speech more personal and can bring in color and emotion.

2.      What are five resources for finding what you need in the library?

·         Librarians, the catalogue, periodical databases, newspapers, and reference works.

3.      What are three criteria for evaluating the soundness of research materials that you find on the Internet?

·         The three criteria’s for evaluations are the authorship, sponsorship, and recency. 

 

4.      What are the three stages of interviewing? What should you do in each stage to help ensure a successful interview?

·         The three stages of interviewing are: 1) what to do before the interview, 2) what to do during the interview, 3) and what to do after the interview. In the first stage you should define the purpose of the interview, decide whom to interview, arrange the interview, decide whether to record the interview, and prepare questions. In the second stage you should dress appropriately and be on time, repeat the purpose of the interview, set up the recorder (if you are using one), keep the interviewer on track, listen carefully, and don’t overstay your welcome. In the third stage you should review you notes as soon as possible and transcribe your notes.

5.      Why is it important to start your speech research early?

·         Because the longer you wait to start, the more problems you will encounter. Research takes longer than you expect so it’s better to start early. Starting early gives you plenty of time to think about what you find. Having more time to will let you get the pieces of your speech to fit just right.

 

6.      What is a preliminary bibliography? Why is it helpful to you in researching a speech?

·         A preliminary bibliography is a list compiled early in the research process of works that look as if they might contain helpful information about a speech topic.

·         This is helpful because with a preliminary bibliography you already have plenty of information you could use therefore when it’s time to write your speech you have plenty of information and options to choose from.

7.      What four things should you do to take research notes efficiently?

·         You should 1) take plenty of notes, 2) record notes in a consistent format, 3) make a separate entry for each note, 4) distinguish among direct quotations, paraphrases, and your own ideas.

Three articles on why we should not fear robots: 

http://felixonline.co.uk/?article=1048
 

http://www.darkapocalypse.net/2011/10/04/dont-fear-a-robot-apocalypse-theyre-here-to-help/

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v427/n6971/full/427181b.html