We have been talking a lot in class about the uncanniness of robots displaying human characteristics such as emotions. Today I watched a new movie out in theaters called Source Code and *spoiler alert* the movie ends by revealing information about an injured man who they are using for their new computer program that will prevent major man-made disasters, such as terrorism attacks. So what I started to think about was how much more horrific it is to use a person as a tool, or a robot, or as a "thing" instead of treating them as an able-bodied person. The effect of using humans as technological tools is so much stronger to me than in Blade Runner using robots as functioning humans. Maybe it is because of the idea of what is cruel and unusual or maybe it is because I can relate with an emotional human more so than a robot.
What do y'all think is more uncanny? A functional robot with emotions or a human being used for technology purposes alone?
I think any way you look at it both seem uncanny. A robot trying to mimic a human being versus a human being used for technology purposes doesn't really make a difference. On one side we have the emotion being added whereas in the other the emotional factor is being taken out. As human beings we are more inclined to relate to other human beings. However, in Blade Runner both replicant and man were relatable at some point in the film. This is what makes the film so unique because naturally we are made to not understand robots (fear of technology taking over).
ReplyDeleteThe more uncanny is the use of a human being for technology purposes alone, but now that I think about it do we currently do that with sweat shop workers and the like? hmmm I don't know, but I do think it's uncanny to create robots who mimic humans so well. The whole inappropriateness of playing God is there, but also with the unreliability of people's characters the fact that they're trying to blend these machines into the human population seems to have sinister connotations behind it. Why create a machine that is capable of 'falling in love' with a human - the Rachel/Harrison Ford relationship - unless of course we do all agree he's a replica himself?
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