Robotics and AI

A speculative work of non-fiction that explores the idea that as the Internet increases in complexity that it may soon become a self-aware consciousness being. When this happens, what sort of consequences might there be? What kind of relationship could we have with such a being? Will we be at odds with it, or will we be able to establish a sort of symbiotic relationship with this synthetic being?

"Decoding Reality: The Universe as Quantum Information. By Vlatko Vedral. Oxford University Press; 256 pages; $29.95 and £16.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk ONE of the most elusive goals in modern physics has turned out to be the creation of a grand unified theory combining general relativity and quantum mechanics, the two pillars of 20th-century physics. General relativity deals with gravity and time and space; quantum mechanics with the microscopic workings of matter. Both are incredibly successful in their own domains, but they are inconsistent with one another. For decades physicists have tried to put the two together. At the heart of the quest lies the question, of what is the universe made? Is it atoms of matter, as most people learned in school? Or some sort of energy? String theory, currently a popular idea, holds that the universe is made up of tiny vibrating strings. Other equally esoteric candidates abound. Indeed, cynics claim that there are as many grand unified theories as there are theoretical physicists attempting unification. Now Vlatko Vedral, an Oxford physicist, examines the claim that bits of information are the universe's basic units, and the universe as a whole is a giant quantum computer. He argues that all of reality can be explained if readers accept that information is at the root of everything."

"GeckoSystems Intl. Corp. (PINKSHEETS: GCKO) announced today that they have resumed their in home personal companion robot trials for elder care after pausing during the Holidays. GeckoSystems is a dynamic leader in the emerging Mobile Service Robot (MSR) industry revolutionizing their development and usage with "Mobile Robot Solutions for Safety, Security and Service™." "Practical, cost effective mobile robot solutions have been our primary goal for over twelve years. We are very pleased to resume our in home trials of this new assistive care home appliance, the CareBot™. It is a customizable personal companion robot with telepresence capabilities. During the coming months we expect to continue to confirm important care giving benefits for the elderly and their family's members. Our long held belief is that personal companion mobile robots, like the CareBot, can help tens of thousands of families take better care of their loved ones while saving significant monies is becoming a reality," remarked Martin Spencer, President/CEO, GeckoSystems. "We are pleased to report that all subsystems and systems tested to date in these home trials have functioned as well, if not better than, expected," reflected Mark Peele, Vice President, R&D. While personal robots cannot reliably sense and respond to human emotions, there are many different means available to the end user. The CareBot's persona can be easily customized as to voice tonality, cadence, pitch, breathiness, volume, choice of words, etc. Further, the words and/or phrases chosen in response to anticipated questions to the CareBot can be colloquial in the word choice and approximate the native dialect using various user settings in the software and/or hardware. With the foregoing capabilities there is now a new type of surrogate companion, not only for the elderly, but also other family members such as children and/or the chronically ill. "

Is it categorically unethical to force ethics upon the unwilling? Can the same answer be given for artificial intelligence? Is it finally even possible to program ethics into an artificially intelligent computer system?