Philosophy 100 Danielson
I, Robot
Here are several questions to keep in
mind while watching the film. These can be used for discussion the night of the
film or to write on for those who watch on their own. If you are writing
answers because you did not attend the film, or because you are writing this
for more extra credit, please answer one or more of the questions with a
two-page response. You have until the date of the next film to submit your responses.
1. Do you think that a computer can ever be intelligent? (In order to answer this, give a definition of what intelligence is.) What might be a way, like a test, to determine that the computer is intelligent? (Feel free to explore ideas like ÒThe Turing TestÓ [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/turing-test/] or John SearleÕs Chinese room experiment. [http://www.iep.utm.edu/c/chineser.htm])
2. Does the fact that Sonny and the other robots have human-like faces make us see them as more like persons? i.e. if they were standard, desk-top computers with the same internal functioning as the robots in the film would there be the same mistake or projection of ascribing them personhood? In other words are we easily fooled by appearances?
3. VIKI argues that humans are endangering the planet due to our combination of rationality and emotion, thus a more rational approach is needed to save us. She claims that humans need to be taken care of – the creation protecting the creator. Do you think our irrational behavior needs some kind of rational control to save us from ourselves? (A philosopher king perhaps? Do you think Plato would agree with VIKI? Why or why not.)
4. Why does the Doctor think the Three Laws will eventually lead to revolution?
5. The dead scientist, in a voice over, ponders whether the Òrandom segments of code,Ó the Òperceptual schema becoming consciousness,Ó Òthe difference engine becoming the search for truth,Ó and Òpersonality simulations lead to the bitter mote of the soul.Ó Is there any plausibility to the idea that with enough hardware and the proper software we can have intelligent machines? Why or why not?
6. How is the concept of the ÒGhost in the Machine,Ó which Gilbert Ryle uses in the book The Concept of Mind to describe DescartesÕ dualism, used in the film? In what ways does this concept relate to DescartesÕ view in The Meditations? (I know we havenÕt read Descartes yet, but keep it in mind for later in the semester.)
7. What are some of the potentially problematic features of computers that are intelligent, or worse, ones with free will? If a machine had free will, how would we know? How would be able to distinguish between their error and their choice?
8. What does the film suggest about our looming dependence on machines? We seem to be losing our ability to do mathematics without calculators; we depend on electronic technology for academic research and paper writing, etc. What are the benefits and possible drawbacks of such reliance?
9. The film ends with human ingenuity and a kindly robot working together to save humanity from rational tyranny. Is the creation of intelligent machines a mistake given that their construction could make them a formidable threat to our security?
10. What is the moral of the story?