Tag Archives: robots

The Seduction of Joe Hawkins

Posted on December 23, 2021 by hessd

If you have been reading this blog recently, you know that I have been thinking about some of the “interpersonal” issues dealt with by the TV series Humans. [1] Joe Hawkins (Tom Goodman-Hill), frustrated and angry at what he has … Continue reading →

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I and AI

Posted on May 16, 2021 by hessd

Sherry Turkle’s memoir, The Empathy Diaries, was published recently and I bought it as soon as I heard about it. She has spent nearly all of her professional career studying the human-robot interaction.  She is the one who, in Alone … Continue reading →

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The Perils of Personhood

Posted on July 22, 2014 by hessd

Through our long and largely successful run as a species, we  have had to ask and answer a lot of questions.  We have not been asked to formulate and answer some questions that are coming to seem fundamental.  Obviously, I … Continue reading →

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Surrogates

Posted on May 30, 2014 by hessd

“Don’t go out without your surrie.”  That’s what Maggie Peters says to her husband, Tom Peters.  Doesn’t it sound just a little like “Don’t go out without your umbrella.”? “Surrie” is what people in the movie, Surrogates, call the robots … Continue reading →

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Using the Right Words

Posted on January 2, 2014 by hessd

I wish a happy 2014 to you all and as a step toward that happiness, let’s look at one of my favorite scenes from I, Robot.[1]  The guiding genius behind U.S. Robotics’ (USB) success was Alfred Landingham, who appears to … Continue reading →

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Robots are better than anything

Posted on June 22, 2012 by hessd

Not, as in the earlier post, “better than nothing.”  Let me say up front that this whole “social robot” thing scares me.  It’s creepy, but the path to there from here is lit up like a strip with landing lights. … Continue reading →

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