Week 3 - Robotics and Art
Robotics and Art
While there are many examples of how art is influenced by technology, this weeks theme of robotics and art have brought up relevant examples of how technology is equally influenced by art. A key example of this relationship is robots. As stated in lecture, the "notion of a robot should be understood as an automatic self" (Vesna). The features and concepts surrounding a robot that separate it from other technology is its attempt to essentially digitalize humans. This humanized aspect of technology is influenced by art itself, and the attempt to artistically transform technology into an interactive science. Additionally, the lecture discussed this development of robots into cyborgs, an even more human form of technology. This development of robots into a real-life figure is all dependent on its artistic background.
Another point that I found interesting from this weeks material was the ethics behind humanizing technology. This was discussed in Maša Jazbec's lecture, as she explained the ethics issue behind developing robots. She mentioned that Gianmarco Veruggio, an essential figure in roboethics argues, "that ethics are needed for robot designers, manufacturers, and users". If we are going to attempt to merge art, science, and reality all into one subject through robotics, we need to ensure that the result is ethically sound according to society's principles. While there is no way to ensure this safety, scientists must consider those who seek to use robots with "malicious intent" (Torresen).
Zooming out from just robotics and art, the articles also discuss a type of ethics issue surrounding the merge of art and technology. Douglas Davis brings up an important point in his article about the consequences of "the perceptions it will now inexorably bring to both art and life, to that sacred line between "original" and "fake" (Davis). He then continues to provide photoshop as an example of this consequence. This is a crucial point to consider as photo shop has taken over the media, creating many issues with self esteem due to an altered reality. While the divide between art and technology is a gap that must be bridged, it is also important to consider the repercussions
that may stem from this, and take steps to mitigate those consequences.
Al Jazeera. The World's First Cyborg. 27 Nov. 2014, www.aljazeera.com/program/the-stream/2014/11/27/the-worlds-first-cyborg.
Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/benjamin.pdf.
Douglas, Davis. “Age of Digital Reproduction - JSTOR.” Jstor.org, 1995, www.jstor.org/stable/1576221.
Marina Fridin Working Follow. “Roboethics.” SlideShare, www.slideshare.net/MarinaFridin/roboethics.
Müller, Vincent C. “Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 30 Apr. 2020, plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-ai/.
Schwab, Katharine. “Rethinking The Ethics Of Photoshop.” Fast Company, Fast Company, 15 Aug. 2018, www.fastcompany.com/3067981/rethinking-the-ethics-of-photoshop.
Scottsoule. The Ethics of Editing. 13 July 2017, vistasoule.com/the-ethics-of-editing.
Vesna, Victoria, director. Robotics pt3. YouTube, 16 Apr. 2012, youtu.be/wkP7oSZVkbg.
Hailey,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog about robots and art, and connecting it to the ethics with humanizing technology. This will for sure be an increasing thing in the future so it will be interesting to see how both art and science interact in humanizing a robot vs. the ethics that develop when making robots as such.
Furthermore, I thought your example of ethics with photoshop was a cool point because it is an intersection of technology and art, but it may not have a positive effect on everyone.