Robots as Solution?

I would think replacing human contact with a robot would be very unsatisfying.

A humanoid like Data or even "sonny" from I, Robot are too far away for me to think about it. But robots today are preforming amazing feats with their programming, but they are very limited to their program. To be a companion it needs a brain that keeps learning and understand expression and feelings. Computers are here now that are programmed to learn, but they are not humanoid and they don't walk around and can't be a companion as I think this thread is talking about. I am in the computer industry and I have been to many parts of the world and have seen what robots are doing in mundane/repetitious work not to mention dangerous work. I can see a "house" being more of a companion. I've seen many movies where the smart house becomes a companion or at lease self aware and those movies usually have a bad outcome. Even my smart home does stuff now that I used to do. It turns on my lights, it wakes me up in the morning, I can ask it my schedule, it tells me "good night" and "have a good day". It changes the TV channel for me or finds me something to watch, plays dinner music and answers my front door. It would be nice to have rosie, the robot maid, but that will not be in my lifetime. I see more like the USS Enterprise answering questions and making Earl Grey tea.

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overcast said:

Robots are negatively painted by the Hollywood. And we don't know how the future will hold for us. I think they can be a good use if you ask me. They can make you a better companion during the old age and they can be pretty handy. They can be used as a good support for family too.

What do you think robot as a companion for family?

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As a helper for around the house I don't see why they should be a problem. You're essentially talking about something little more than a mobile version of Alexa, although ideally something that could function without reporting absolutely everything back to some central server. The last thing I'd want is something that can roam freely around my house, sending video back to a server with little more than a vaguely worded assurance that "all measures will be taken to keep data secure but no responsibility is taken for security breaches", which means little more than "hey, hackers might be able to get a realtime video feed of everything happening in your house and if it happens that's just too bad for you"

As soon as we get into the idea that a robot might become a "friend" or, worse, a more intimate partner, it seems like little more than another attempt to fragment society. Why would people need to go out and interact with others if they had a couple of robots in their home with the artificial personalities of a dozen or more virtual friends that they can chop and change? How do people build or maintain social skills if their primary interactions are with robots that do as they are told, and that exist purely to serve? The most likely outcome I can see to this is that lonely people will stay lonely and we'll see a huge increase in social breakdown along with undesirable traits like narcicissm.

Maybe not in the next couple of years. But we will definitely be using robots a lot more in the future. It will be interesting to see at point we start to see more discussions about robot rights and whether they should be treated like a human or not. It would certainly help with certain jobs as well that might be too dangerous for humans.