ALL GOOD ROBOTS GO TO HEAVEN (or How X-51 Got His 01100111 01110010 01101111 01101111 01110110 01100101 Back) We’ve seen it played out in many different ways: the concept of machines becoming sentient. We can’t help but imagine how things will be once our technology reaches human-like potential. If sentient, will we shackle machines as subservient tools or will we grant them the freedoms that we enjoy? If a machine possesses independent thought, can it dream? When a robot knows fear, love, hate and despair, does that mean that it has a soul? Such ideas have been explored in literature (I, Robot), television (Star Trek) and movies (The Terminator), but they have all centered on a singular notion: humanity. The question isn’t a matter of machines becoming human, for that day seems closer all the time … but what does it mean to BE human?
Read More