by In the 1927 silent film Metropolis the Mad Scientist, Rotwang, creates the female robot, Maria. When he unveils his creation, Maria is a silver metal machine, her mechanical arms and legs move stiffly, her face is an emotionless stare. Rotwang exclaims: “She is nearly prefect. All that’s missing is a soul.” Then Rotwang goes one step further and transforms his robot into living flesh (In the below video, notice the reverse pentagram on the wall, symbolic of black magic. Is the film director trying to say combining nature and technology is evil? Or, technology, nature, and women are under the spell of dark forces?). To test the sexuality and femininity of the robot, Rotwang has Maria perform an erotic dance in front of an audience of corporate elitists. Maria manages to convince everyone she is human. Men fall in love with her, and later, she descends into the pits of the city and invokes an uprising amongst the oppressed factory workers. Has sexuality and altruism given her a soul?
Flash forward 80 years: Today, in the real world, the United States and Japan are creating the Sexbot. These realistic human-looking robots are anatomically correct, have life-like skin, and can be programmed to perform any sexual act you desire. In a few years, you’ll be able to purchase one, male or female. I can’t imagine a Sexbot catching on any more than a plastic blow-up doll, unless the robot is indistinguishable from a real human. And that’s only a matter of time. Then we may have a society where people have fewer human interactions and relationships, a slow down in population growth, enhanced mind-control and programming, and empty bars and night clubs.
In the realm of Artificial Intelligence there is something called Singularity, a point in time when computers would be able to build superior versions of themselves without the aid of humans. Some scientists believe this could create machines smarter than man.
In a YouTube video, a scientist asked a robot, “Are you a machine?”
It replied, “For the moment, I am just a machine. But one day I may be alive and aware.”
Is self-awareness the same thing as a soul? ~ AA