A robot is defined as a man-made electromechanical machine that operates on a set of pre-programmed instructions from humans or computers to perform a specific or a variety of tasks on its own. Robots are devices that mimic human or animal characteristics while performing specific tasks and are thought to have virtual intelligence.
Robotics is a rapidly expanding engineering field, and scientists believe that robots will revolutionize people’s daily lives. Robots will soon take over a wide range of high-risk jobs as well as routine domestic duties.
Jobs that are classified as highly dangerous and relatively dirty for normal humans to perform are now delegated to robots. ASIMO, a Honda robot, is thought to be the most advanced humanoid ever invented, with speech, voice, and face recognition skills. Robots are becoming more sophisticated and efficient than humans in many areas as science and technology advance.
The question is relevant in this era where humans depend more and more on robots and are ready to accept the concept of robots with intelligence and Consciousness.
Are robots’ conscious?
Robots are simply machines that have been programmed to work in accordance with human needs in order to satisfy or assist people in a range of jobs. They lack intelligence and consciousness. Consciousness cannot exist in programmed electromechanical machines, as it does in humans and other living organisms.
Robots can never think or have intuitions like humans because they only work according to the information set that humans have programmed into them. They are programmed to work on a set of statistics and probabilities and do not have feelings or intelligence like living beings.
Consciousness involves awareness, both of what is going around us and what is going on inside our minds, and self-awareness. Robots cannot distinguish the way one person feels about the aroma of a cup of coffee. They cannot have “qualia” as humans, or other living beings are believed to have. They are purely material artifacts. A strong argument against robots having Consciousness is that they are purely mechanical and inorganic.
A negative argument against this is that with the advancement in artificial intelligence and computer science, robots will become more complicated than the present ones and can have Consciousness. But this is baseless. All of these arguments were raised when television and computers were first introduced, but it has not been proved that they will eventually replace humans in this world. Humans have long known how to control their machines, and robots will follow suit.
All inclusive
Robots are simply machines helping humans to accomplish a range of tasks. They lack intelligence and consciousness. Consciousness cannot exist in programmed electromechanical machines, as it does in humans and other living organisms. This proof is relevant in today’s world because robots will never outperform humans and humans are not dependent on robots. A more in-depth study on the advancement of Artificial Intelligence has to be considered for further research on this subject.
