When Technology And Humanity Cross STS 2021 PDF

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L e o n a r d o N. P a s q u i t o P a g e | 1Module 5Lesson 1When Technology And Humanity CrossOVERVIEWRobotics deals with the design, construction, and operation of machines that can substitute humans and replicate human actions. Robots can be used in in dangerous environments such as bomb detecti...

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FUNDAMENTALS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY Leonardo N. Pasquito Page |1

Module 5 Lesson 1 When Technology And Humanity Cross OVERVIEW Robotics deals with the design, construction, and operation of machines that can substitute humans and replicate human actions. Robots can be used in in dangerous environments such as bomb detection and deactivation, manufacturing processes, or where humans cannot survive such as in space, under water, in high heat and radiation. In 1954 George Devol invented the first digitally operated and a programmable robot called the Unimate and in 1956, he formed the world's first robot company. The Internet, (interconnected network) is a worldwide system of computer networks in which users get information from any other computer. It was conceived by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the U.S. government in 1969 and was first known as the ARPANet. The original aim was to create a network that would allow users of a research computer at one university to "talk to" research computers at other universities. On the other hand, Google is an

American multinational technology company that specializes in Internet-related services and products, which include online advertising technologies, search engine, cloud computing, software, and hardware. It was founded by Larry Page, Sergey Brin on 4 September 1998, Menlo Park, California, United States. It is the world's second-largest internet company by revenue headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States KEY CONCEPTS • • •

The Three Laws of Robotics also known as Asimov's Laws are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov that intelligent robots should all be programmed to obey. The new ethical problems posed by current developments in robotics is human safety.

Google and the Internet in general can make us intelligent or can make us stupid. It can make us smarter because we can find lots of information quickly, but it can make us stupid because it diminishes our ability to think deeply about that information.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES At the end of the lessons, the students are expected to 1. Examine human rights in order to uphold such rights in technological ethical dilemmas. 2. Identify and enumerate the ethical dilemmas in the science of emotional robotics.

FUNDAMENTALS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY Leonardo N. Pasquito Page |2 3. Evaluate the conflicting people’s perspectives on the use of Google and the internet.

NOTE TO THE PROFESSOR. This lesson begins with a short skit performed by three student actors. One will act as a robot. The second student will act as the mother and the third will act as the daughter who owns the robot. The robot will follow whatever the order of the owner. DISCUSSION A. ETHICAL DILEMMAS OF ROBOTICS According to Dylan Evans, a scientist and writer, Scientists at present are already beginning to think seriously about the new ethical problems posed by current developments in robotics. At the top of their list of concerns is safety. The following are the ethical dilemmas they are pondering with: 1. Robots were once confined to specialist applications in industry and the military, where users received extensive training on their use, but they are increasingly being used by ordinary people. Pepper, The World’s First Robot 2. Robot vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers are already in many With Feelings. Photo: Koji Sasahara/AP/Corbis/ homes, and robotic toys are increasingly popular with children. Source:https://www.thecut.com 3. As these robots become more intelligent, it will become harder to decide who is responsible if they injure someone. Is the designer to blame, or the user, or the robot itself? 4. Software robots - basically, just complicated computer programs - already make important financial decisions. Whose fault is it if they make a bad investment? The Three Laws of Robotics The Three Laws of Robotics also known as Asimov's Laws are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround". Isaac Asimov argued that intelligent robots should all be programmed to obey the following three laws: 1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. The problem in the first law is that the robot would need to be able to tell humans apart from similar-looking things such as chimpanzees, statues and humanoid robots. In fact, programming a real robot to follow the three laws would itself be very difficult. This may be easy for us humans, but it is a very hard problem for robots, as anyone working in machine vision will tell you. The US military plans to have a fifth of its combat units fully automated by the year 2020. Asimov's laws don't apply to machines which are designed to harm people. When an army can strike at an enemy with no risk to lives on its own side, it may be less scrupulous in using force. 2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law

FUNDAMENTALS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY Leonardo N. Pasquito Page |3 Similar problems arise with rule two, as the robot would have to be capable of telling an order apart from a casual request, which would involve more research in the field of natural language processing. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law Endowing Robots with Rights One area of robotics that raises some difficult ethical questions, and which is already developing rapidly, is the field of emotional robotics. This is the attempt to endow robots with the ability to recognize human expressions of emotion, and to engage in behavior that humans readily perceive as emotional. Humanoid heads with expressive features have become alarmingly lifelike. There are robots today which has a novel form of artificial skin that bunches and wrinkles just like human skin, can smile, frown, and grimace in very human-like ways. These robots are specifically designed to encourage Nasa's Robotnaut is designed to work on Mars human beings to form emotional attachments to them. The ethical dilemmas of emotional robotics are the following: 4. If robots can feel pain, should they be granted certain rights? 5. If robots develop emotions, as some experts think they will, should they be allowed to marry humans? 6. If robots develop emotions, should they be allowed to own property? 7. If animals which are non-humans were given animal rights, would emotional robots which are more human-like be not given human-like right?

B. IS GOOGLE MAKING US STUPID? Is Google Making Us Stupid? is a magazine article by technology writer Nicholas G. Carr published in the August 2008 edition of The Atlantic magazine. Who doesn't love Google? In the blink of an eye, the search engine delivers useful information about pretty much any subject imaginable. But is Google making us intelligent? What makes us intelligent is not our ability to find lots of information quickly but our ability to think deeply about that information. And this happens only when our minds are calm and attentive. The greater our concentration, the richer our thoughts and the more we are distracted, the more that we understand less, remember less, and learn less.

FUNDAMENTALS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY Leonardo N. Pasquito Page |4

CARR'S MAIN ARGUMENTS 1. The Internet might have detrimental effects on cognition that diminish the capacity for concentration and contemplation. Carr expanded his argument in The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, a book published by W. W. Norton in June 2010. 2. Constantly using the Internet might reduce one’s ability to concentrate and reflect on content. He then analyzes a 2008 study by University College London about new “types” of reading that will emerge and become predominant in the information age. 3. Carr argues that the effect of the Internet on cognition was detrimental, weakening the ability to concentrate and contemplate. Concentration might be impaired by Internet usage because the brain's neural circuitry can be rewired. He references the historical example of Nietzsche, who used a typewriter, which was new during his time in the 1880s. Allegedly, Nietzsche’s writing style changed after the advent of the typewriter. This demonstrates neuroplasticity, a scientific theory that states neural circuits are contingent and in flux. 4. Carr argues that the Internet is changing behavior at unprecedented levels because it is one of the most pervasive and life-altering technologies in human history. He suggests that the Internet engenders cognitive distractions in the form of ads and popups. These concentration-altering events are only worsened by online media as they adapt their strategies and visual forms to those of Internet platforms to seem more legitimate and trick the viewer into processing them. 5. Carr also posits that people’s ability to concentrate might decrease. He compares the Internet with industrial management systems, tracing how they caused workers to complain that they felt like automata after the implementation of Taylorist management workflows. 6. Carr argues that the Internet makes its money mainly by exploiting users’ privacy or bombarding them with overstimulation, a vicious cycle where companies facilitate mindless browsing instead of rewarding sustained thinking. THE PROBLEM WITH GOOGLE AND THE INTERNET More than 2,000 years ago, the classical Greek philosopher Socrates complained that the new technology of writing "will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls because they will not use their memories." Today, Google is the new technology. The Internet contains the world's best writing, images, and ideas; Google lets us find the relevant pieces instantly. Here are the different problems observed when using Google and the Internet in general: 1. When we use our computers and our cellphones all the time, we are always distracted. The Net bombards us with messages and other bits of data, and every one of those interruptions breaks our train of thought. We end up scatterbrained.

FUNDAMENTALS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY Leonardo N. Pasquito Page |5

2. You can never think deeply if you are Googling, texting, and surfing. Google does not want us to slow down because as we click links and skimming words and pictures, the more ads Google is able to show us and the more money it makes. It is encouraging us to think superficially. It's making us shallow. 3. If you wanted to ponder deeply and think, it is advisable to turn off your computer and your cellphone You can use Google to get all the facts you want, but you will never Google your way to brilliance. GOOGLE AND THE INTERNET IS DAMAGING OUT BRAINS Google is doing something damaging to our brains because: 1. We need to think deeply in order to think “brilliantly.” Science has demonstrated that we need calm minds in order to think deeply. 2. When we’re online, we are constantly distracted. The Internet is designed to bombard us with messages and interruptions. 3. Google encourages us to move superficially through information, because that’s how it makes money. Google allows us to “zip” through the net so that it can show us more ads. GOOGLE HAS MADE US SMARTER Google has made us smarter because 1. Google gave us ready and free access to information. 2. Google lets us find relevant information instantly. For example, my local library has no books on that specific subject, I could hunt through those or turn to Google, which returns thousands of pages.

3. By considering a wide range of information, we can arrive at more creative and informed solutions. In politics, for example, they are likely to see ideas from left and right, and see how news is reported in other countries.

4. The Internet’s opportunities outweigh its distractions. Statistically, 81 percent of experts polled by the Pew Internet Research Project say the opportunities outweigh the distractions.

ACTIVITY A. DEBATE AND ARGUMENT. Your class will be grouped into two. Following parliamentary procedure on debate and argument, the two groups will defend the hypothesis below. Mechanics of the debate 1. Group 1 will be given 2 minutes to introduce their main argument. This will be followed by group 2.

FUNDAMENTALS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY Leonardo N. Pasquito Page |6

2. Group 1 will then present their counter-argument based on the proposition presented by the other group. This will be followed by Group 2. 3. Each group will be given 2 minutes to cross-argue on any of the debaters of the other group. 4. After the cross-argument, group 1 will present their final statement by summarizing the highlights of their proposition. This will be followed by group 2. Group 1. Main Argument: Google is damaging our Brains. Null Hypothesis (H0): If we need calm minds to think deeply, and the Internet does not help us have calm minds, instead it fractures our attention by encouraging speedy interactions with information, then Google is doing something damaging to our brains. Group 2. Main Argument: Google is making us Smarter. Alternative Hypothesis (Ha): If Google can get us more specific information faster, have access to a diversity of information, and people believe the Internet’s advantages outweigh the disadvantages, then Google has made us smarter. Materials Needed: Microphone or lapel for each group Activity Rubrics: Groups will be adjudged based on the following criteria: 50 % - communication skills 30 % - audience impact 20% - preparation B. COUNTER-REACTION. Make a one-page counter-reaction paper on any of the comments regarding the ethical dilemmas of robotics. You must refute on these comments. This means that your reaction paper should counter-argue their position on the matter. Choose only one. Instead of worrying ourselves about the hypothetical rights of future groups of machines that may or may not be taken advantage of and oppressed, it might behoove those of us that are interested in equality and fairness to begin with groups that exist today that have suffered from hundreds of years of oppression; namely women, Gays and Lesbians, people of color, workers, Jews and Muslims etc. Possibly once these groups have attained a modicum of equality and respect, then we might decide to tackle these same issues with non-humans such as animals and robots. But let us please keep our priorities straight. - Blake Wilkinson, Madrid, Spain

FUNDAMENTALS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY Leonardo N. Pasquito Page |7 Ridiculous! While the greater part of humanity is still grappling with stone age mythological beliefs in gods, heaven, hell etc. we now have a clique whom we believe that we have matured to the level where robots are to be given human rights? How pathetic. We still need to look at the rights of real living things such as other humans and OTHER animals on our planet. - Albert Schultz, Stockholm, Sweden Surely we should actually be looking closer at the moral issues of developing robots to this extent at all. The whole article is about ethics and yet you refer to the US military having plans of using robot forces to go to war. Surely a robotic force blowing up and killing people raises a more ethical argument than how we treat what is effectively a clever piece of software and some nuts and bolts. Should we start debating rights for cars, microwaves and stereos? Nice side track to real issues of the immorality of some of the other money making issues going on in the world.- Barry Aldridge, Leicester, UK

ASSESSMENT TRUE OR FALSE. Write ROBOT if the statement is true and write the word GOOGLE if the statement is false. Wrote your answer on the space before each item. NO erasures. ________________1. ________________2. ________________3.

________________4. ________________5. ________________6.

________________7.

The Three Laws of Robotics are rules devised by Sir Isaac Newton introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround". Robotics deals with the design, construction, and operation of machines that can substitute humans and replicate human actions. The first digitally operated and a programmable robot called the ORNAMENT. The word Internet means intergalactic network. The internet was conceived by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the U.S. government in 1969 and was first known as the ARPANet. The original aim of the internet was to create a network that would allow users of a research computer at one university to "talk to" research computers at other universities.

Google is an American multinational technology founded by Larry Page, Sergey Brin. ________________8. Google is the first and largest internet company by revenue headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States. ________________9. The Greek philosopher Aristotle complained that the new technology of writing "will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls because they will not use their memories." ________________10. The more we use Google and click links and skim words and pictures, the more ads Google is able to show us and the more money it makes. EXTENSION

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MOVIE REVIEW AND ANALYSIS I, Robot is a 2004 American science fiction action film directed by Alex Proyas and starred by Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, and Alan Tudyk. It was released in North America on July 16, 2004, in Australia on July 22, 2004, in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2004 and in other countries between July 2004 to October 2004. It received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the visual effects and acting but criticism of the plot. Watch this video at home or anytime during your free hours. Then make a one-page movie review and analysis focusing the ethical dilemmas of robots as seen in the movie. GLOSSARY Stupid. This refers to a person having or showing a great lack of intelligence or common sense. Emotional robots. These are robots with emotional Processing Unit that takes an input and converts it to twelve essential components of emotion: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, indifference, regret, surprise, anticipation, trust, confidence, desire, and joy.

RESOURCES Anderson, S. L. (2008). Asimov’s “three laws of robotics” and machine metaethics. Ai & Society, 22(4), 477493.

BBC NEWS. (9 March 2007). Technology: The ethical dilemmas of robotics. Retrieved May 1, 2019 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/64323 07.stm Carr, N. (2008). Is Google making us stupid?. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 107(2), 89-94. Deng, B. (2015). Machine ethics: The robot’s dilemma. Nature News, 523(7558), 24.

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