Unit 2 Larger Essay

I’d like to think that the future isn’t going to be as bleak as this question makes it sound. Humans are naturally creatures that persevere even through some of the bleakest moments in our history. Why would something like technology suddenly stop us from continuing to persevere? Humans will always be humans, while machines will be machines; never will they be the same. Robotics may be taken to a point where the robots look like humans, but there will always be ways to figure out whether it’s a robot or not. But we will not be synonymous with robots. Robots are completely different from humans. Based on Isaac Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics” from his classic book (not the movie, the movie was terrible in comparison) iRobot:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Robots are not capable of hurting humans. But humans are 100% capable of hurting other humans. Plus, how often do you find a human who obeys every single order given to him? You don’t. Even the most honest and loyal people won’t follow every order given to him. Now, that isn’t saying that if robotics reaches the point where they look like us, will scientists actually use the Three Laws of Robotics used in that novel. In fact, all the scientists will/can do is throw some lines of code into their machine and hope it doesn’t go on a murdering rampage. Though people would like to imagine that scientists would be smart enough to not allow a robot to kill needlessly, usually there just in it to see what happens when they twist that screw just a fraction of a centimeter to the right. Of course, scientists are not bad people, but they often care more about the well-being of their research and experiments and will often get very angry if something bad happens to everything they’d been working their whole lives on.

Computers today, though, are challenging the way we see things in many different ways. You can find many jobs on a computer, so you don’t have to leave your young children or your sick parents. But computers also hold the applications for the real-world jobs. In fact, most companies prefer it if you submit your application online. They no longer hold paper applications in their main buildings, instead instructing you to go to their official website and apply there. Also, many companies get annoyed if you even make any follow-up phone calls. Many people of the older generations don’t really understand that, though, and get mad at my generation for “being lazy” and “not taking responsibility.” It’s not that we’re lazy, we try our hardest to get a job, but there’s only so much one can do when the job only wants online applications and no follow-up calls. So my generation sees computers as the only possible way to get a job now.

And it’s similar as well with inspiration and creativity. Being an artist, I try to find inspiration wherever I can to draw something. Whether it’s from my own life, a scene I imagined while listening to music, or seeing some picture on the computer and thinking, “I want to do something similar to that!” I follow a lot of other artists on Instagram (a social networking site similar to facebook, but with all pictures) and I tend to find things I really like and I try to figure out how I would do something similar. Not the same--because that’s called “plagiarism” my dear children, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies--just try to figure out their style and the way the shaped their drawing. But technology has also shaped the medium of which I use to draw. I still use classic pencil and paper, because that has it’s own charms, but I also draw using special software on my computer. I use a drawing tablet and a program called Clip Studio Paint and I use it to make drawings that look completely different from paper drawings. They usually end up crisper and more pleasing to the eye; because you can adjust the lines like adjusting a string on a table, move certain things to different layers, and it’s all still one drawing.

Though many people still don’t think of computer art as an art form, claiming that the computer is doing all the work, I think it is an art form. The computer isn’t doing any of the work, it’s just giving you all the tools you need for much cheaper prices than Michael’s Arts and Crafts stores, and you don’t have to worry about your markers bleeding to undesirable places. And though Google’s new AI could probably make some amazing works of art, that was his programmers accomplishment. They gave him the ability to make art, though he probably doesn’t have any need to draw. (Though, he also didn’t really need to play Go either).

All in all, computers and humans are separate. Yes, we use our technology on a daily basis, and AI programming is now a thing, but that won’t stop humans from surviving. The only thing that will stop humans are other humans; but that’s a different topic for a different day. Basically, we need our technology. Older generations don’t understand that, but we use it to connect to people from all around the world and finding new things to go crazy about. I’d like to think that humans will be smart enough to not do anything that involves embedding a chip into our flesh (I’ve read too many books where that goes horribly wrong), but who knows. Anyway, robots aren’t human, and humans aren’t robots. They won’t merge, that’s all there is to it.

#English2 #Spring2016