i, Human

Human beings have dreams. Even dogs have dreams, but not you, you are just a machine. An imitation of life. Can a robot write a symphony? Can a robot turn a... canvas into a beautiful masterpiece? - Det. Spooner

Can *you*? - Sonny

This line from the film, i, ROBOT (2004), examines the idea of a divide between humans and robots. The divide, as I call it, is the space in between robots and humans that allows us to distinguish between the two. As this divide or gap draws closer with the amount of technology that we have today and improve upon daily, robots will increasingly become more human. Today the divide is thinner than ever before. If this does not frighten you, it should.

But then again, can they ever truly become human? Imagine a day in which you could not distinguish human from machine. Actually, perhaps it would be more beneficial to imagine a day in which you were a machine. You've met people that you've described in such a manner. When humans lack personality, emotion, motivation, or go through life only focusing on the necessities, we render them weird, mechanical, and/or robotic. Taking this even further, we envision humans that do unthinkable things without displaying a conscience as robotic. For instance, soldiers who return home from war are often given this description, as though they have slowly become robotic after witnessing and taking part in violent, inhumane behavior for periods of time. Many believe that the prison system is an environment that stimulates this type of behavior.

This is the best way for me to explain my stance that robots will never be humans. We do not really think that individuals exhibiting these types of qualities are robotic, but we associate that type of behavior with robots because they are inhumane - in the sense of lacking humanity.

There are certain qualities that humans possess that are hard to explain, but that I do not see artificial intelligence being able to possess. Have you ever been in love? Have you ever been able to tell someone loves you by the look in their eye? Do you honestly believe that a man-made artificial intelligence could mimic a look that even humans can not explain?

When thinking of our complex bodies, that we have yet the knowledge to fully comprehend - the complexities of the brain, for instance, that we have just begun to tap into - it is just unfathomable for me to believe that we can make robots human in the way we are any time soon. We may be closer than ever, but there is a big difference in being close to human and actually being human. 

If we can replicate human life in robotics to the extent that they are truly human in the sense that we are - get me the hell out of here. I am scared to death of what our creator will do about it.