Love Machine
The thing that got me about the movie was that it seemed to concentrate on robots as sexual aids and not really as sexual agents. The movie concentrates on a very human love experience, and I’m not sure that robots would have the same experience even if they were designed by humans.
It reminds me of the feminist criticisms leveled by Andrea Dworkin – women lack sexual agency of their own. They are trained to respond to a man’s sexual desire. I don’t think the movie touched on that beyond Delanda’s discussion on a robot developing desire of its own.
I’d be curious to see the movie touch on potential robot families – if robots and humans can fall in love, what would the possible dynamic be in family life? Especially considering how Turkle notes the interactions between humans and robots. Using that frame I don’t think it’s “pathetic” for people to fall in love with machines – especially very convincing machines.
The Morning Musume was nice.
May 1, 2008 at 5:41 pm
I’ve had morning musume stuck in my head for 2 days. Ha ha
Anyway, its interesting to think about robotic families. I wonder if human members in the family would ever fully accept their robotic siblings or parents. What if your dad was a robot and sent you to your room. I think most people would use the “well you’re not my real dad so don’t order me around!!” excuse. If robots can’t die or get sick then would human children rely on their robot parents to care for them for life? Would people get too reliant on that care? They would never know what it would be like to live on their own. Also, would society accept these families? We as a society have enough problems dealing with same sex marriages or nontraditional living arrangements. I wonder what the possible societal reaction would be.
Though it would be nice to be able to hack into your parent’s brains….