If you had a robot…

[BookTenTiger]

I would f--- with it by giving it nonsense commands because I like seeing how systems function, and then when it got confused I'd occasionally feel guilty and ask it about itself. I'd ponder what the nature of consciousness is, and whether it is cruel to create a being that will only exist on the cusp of self-awareness.

I figure it would just head over to a computer and Google your command, like Siri or Alexa does.

"Here's what I found on Google for 'I am lying, did I just lie?'"

 

[DrunkonDuty]

If I had a robot I'd treat them like my plastic pal who's fun to be with.

 

[Hex08]

I probably would be polite, certainly more than I am with my Google Home smart speakers. Since we tend to anthropomorphize things I would probably, without thinking about it, be at least a little polite. I would even be more likely to if it were programmed to respond to politeness.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Depends if it talks in one of those sexy accents. I favor the Australian or British, but others might find the local Boston accent favoring.

At some point, people will start licensing their voices for AI/robot voices. It’s just a matter of time.

Your refrigerator will “pity the food”.

Your roomba will sing “ get out the way!”

Your digital assistant could sound like Samuel Jackson, James Earl Jones, Fran Drescher or Morgan Freeman.

Etc.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

In anything approximate to our reality I'd be cold, distant, and mildly hostile to it because it would obviously be spying on me for some sort of global megacorporation, and would probably be poorly functioning, overpriced, stop it's tasks abruptly for unnecessary software updates, and generally designed for the benefit of those who built it rather than me (or it). Given the feelings outlined above, doubtlessly I would only have it because it would have effectively been foisted on me, the way I can not delete Siri from my phone or computer or stop her from coming to life randomly, which would make me even more hostile to it.

I am sure there will be more robots in my lifetime, but I'm equally sure that consumer robots that don't suck will remain fictional.

 

[Leatherhead]

Heck no.

I have a phobia of dolls. I would have to spend hours just to customize the aesthetics to get around that or the entire situation is a non-starter.

Can you imagine forcing someone to get plastic surgery, just so they could scrub the bathroom? Because that doesn't match any definition of polite I subscribe to.

 

[Dioltach]

Would you be polite to it as you would a person?

One factor that we should take into account is whether the robot is bound by the First Law of Robotics. If not, I'd definitely be more polite.

 

[Dioltach]

If I had a robot I'd treat them like my plastic pal who's fun to be with.

Share and enjoy!

 

[delericho]

Would you be polite to it as you would a person?

Depends. Does it look human?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Probably.

Anything I talk to- animals, video games, instruments, tables- I talk to like people.

Plus, Stabby the Roomba.

Ummm…just to clarify: I don’t talk to EVERY inanimate object, and I’m not even consistent about to which I do and don’t. I might talk to a santoku one day and not another.

But a robot, despite being inanimate, is still animated, so I’d be more likely to talk to it than, say, one of my guitars.