Nadine, a robot that is almost human, she is creepy...

[loreta]

I don't know if this is the right section to put this news.

Yesterday I saw this news and I really was shocked. There is a new type of robot, and they presented Nadine. Look at her:

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Just looking at it I saw a monster. She is horrible, scary. And I made in my mind a relation with all the people who disappears. These new robots with sentiments and emotions, how can this be possible? Are they doing something similar a la Frankenstein? Had they created a new sort of human, even if they told us that it is a robot? I don't know but this news was for me very disturbing...

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have unveiled "Nadine," a socially intelligent, human-looking robot complete with "her own personality, mood and emotions," according to a university news release.

The humanoid "receptionist" was presented at a new media showcase Tuesday at NTU, where her human creator, professor Nadia Thalmann, predicted that "physical social robots such as Nadine are poised to become more visible in offices and homes in future."

Nadine was created to be a doppelganger of Thalmann, according to NTU's news release, which said the "humanoid" has "soft skin and flowing brunette hair. She smiles when greeting you, looks at you in the eye when talking, and can also shake hands with you."

The bot "can be happy or sad, depending on the conversation" and she "also has a good memory" with the ability to recognize people she's met and remember what those people have said before, NTU said. The university added that "Nadine is powered by intelligent software similar to Apple’s Siri or Microsoft’s Cortana."

"As countries worldwide face challenges of an aging population, social robots can be one solution to address the shrinking workforce, become personal companions for children and the elderly at home, and even serve as a platform for healthcare services in future," Thalmann said, according to the NTU news release.

"This is somewhat like a real companion that is always with you and conscious of what is happening," she added. "So in future, these socially intelligent robots could be like C-3PO, the iconic golden droid from 'Star Wars', with knowledge of language and etiquette."

Though hundreds of social media users have made similar comments about the robots being "creepy," "scary," and "potentially dangerous," many experts believe these fears will go away over time as the technology becomes more popularly used.

"A yew years ago, people's biggest worry about technology was privacy, now it's robots taking over the world," said Carlos Guestrin, a professor of machine larning at the Computer Science & Engineering Department of the University of Washington.

Guestrin told ABC News that he believes "we're far from developing human-like technology that could have a negative impact" and that as advances in AI in the near future will likely have "a more positive impact."

"Self-driving vehicles are making vehicles safer, automation and smarter devices are making homes safer," he said. "I think AI, especially those that can see and understand emotions, will be helping us with a wide range of tasks and making a lot of lives better."

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/human-robot-nadine-personality-mood-emotions-unveiled-singapore/story?id=36032196

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[casper]

Nadine robot, it's not something you could do in a short time :/, more worries me as to what is doing today, and what will be presented to us in the future?

Nadine, gave me the chills

 

[Solie123]

It is super scary :( especially considering that people want to intergrate robots into society... Like humans! It's creepy.

 

[Marina9]

I wouldn't like to be near Nadine.. she is creepy!

It's scares me how they now want to integrate robots to our life... we don't need that, we just need more humans acting like true human beings.. :(

 

[Yupo]

I so much prefer the robotic assistants like seen in the Star Wars series.

 

[loreta]

Many years ago I read a very strange book, by Marge Piercy, about this subject. The story ask questions about AI and this type of robot, like Nadine. It, in the novel, is a very interesting robot, by the way. But when I read the book, maybe 20 years ago, it was science fiction, that's all. Now we can see that it is not science fiction at all but something very real. and this is just what they show us.

About the book He, she and It

In the middle of the twenty-first century, life as we know it has changed for all time. Shira Shipman's marriage has broken up, and her young son has been taken from her by the corporation that runs her zone, so she has returned to Tikva, the Jewish free town where she grew up. There, she is welcomed by Malkah, the brilliant grandmother who raised her, and meets an extraordinary man who is not a man at all, but a unique cyborg implanted with intelligence, emotions--and the ability to kill....
From the imagination of Marge Piercy comes yet another stunning novel of morality and courage, a bold adventure of women, men, and the world of tomorrow

About Marge Piercy:

Her novels and poetry often focus on feminist or social concerns, although her settings vary. While Body of Glass (published in the US as He, She and It) is a science fiction novel that won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, City of Darkness, City of Light is set during the French Revolution. Other of her novels, such as Summer People and The Longings of Women are set during the modern day. All of her books share a focus on women's lives.

Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) mixes a time travel story with issues of social justice, feminism, and the treatment of the mentally ill. This novel is considered a classic of utopian "speculative" science fiction as well as a feminist classic.[10] William Gibson has credited Woman on the Edge of Time as the birthplace of Cyberpunk. Piercy tells this in an introduction to Body of Glass. Body of Glass (He, She and It) (1991) postulates an environmentally ruined world dominated by sprawling mega-cities and a futuristic version of the Internet, through which Piercy weaves elements of Jewish mysticism and the legend of the Golem, although a key story element is the main character's attempts to regain custody of her young son.

 

[Maat]

Human-like robot’s reaction ‘freaks out’ creators​

A machine touted as the world’s most advanced humanoid robot “freaked out” its creators after it reacted with visible irritation and grabbed the hand of a researcher who got into its “personal space.”

A newly posted video demonstration of the interaction shows the robot, called ‘Ameca’, tracking a moving finger before furrowing its brow and leaning back as the person’s hand comes nearer. After the researcher pokes its nose, the robot then grabs their hand and moves it away.

The impressively life-like robot, which is being developed by British firm Engineered Arts, has been billed as the “future face of robotics” and “the perfect humanoid robot platform for human-robot interaction.”

The grey-colored machine somewhat resembles the robots from the 2004 Hollywood adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s ‘I, Robot’. Ameca is said to offer the whole range of human emotions, together with realistic eye and facial movements.

Sharing the clip on YouTube, the Cornwall-based robotics firm said that “Ameca reacts as things enter their ‘personal space.’” The developers noted that this behavior was “even starting to freak us out at Engineered Arts and we are used to it!”

While most viewers appreciated the machine, some commenters viewed it with a mix of “excitement and fear,” with one person tweeting that the interaction represents an “early warning” about the dangers of the technology potentially going rogue.

Much like an earlier demonstration of the machine this month, however, the interaction appears to have been pre-programmed. In a previous video, Ameca ‘wakes up’, rolls its shoulder and curiously looks at its arms before showing surprise, irritation and breaking into a creepy smile after ‘noticing’ the camera.

The “built to last” robot is available for purchase and rental, but is just a stationary model at present. The developers are working on upgrading the machine, which utilizes the firm’s ‘Mesmer’ technology to mimic human emotions and expressions, bone structure and skin texture.