The Independent Machine

Hal 9000 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHJkAYdT7qoWall-e - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZLpXRroU7I

Do you know who’s side you’re on?

An exploration into the relationship between humans and machines

Introduction

What idea are you expressing? • What if machines could think?• What would your reaction be in this situation?• People often personify machines – “Stupid Phone/Dumb computer”• What if our phone was stupid, our computer was dumb?• What if our phone was mischievous? Our computer malicious?• We aim to simulate a reality in which machines have independent thought.• Want to demonstrate machines with personalities (emotions, expectations, desires etc)

and expose our true feelings towards this.

What issue are you exploring? • The idea of Artificial Intelligence and our reaction to its reality.• Not whether Artificial Intelligence is possible, but what our reaction would be if it were.

Why is it important/interesting to you?• Interesting to explore whether AI is achievable.• Interesting to hypothesise what our interaction and relationship would be with AI.• Lots of moral and ethical questions are involved – equal rights? Right/wrong?

Why would other people be interested?• Computers and machines are integrated into large facets of our lives already.

• The future can only see this increase.

• The invention of Artificial Intelligence (if realised) has an impact on everyone.

• Highly contested and speculated topic shown through research and popular media.

Blue Brain Project

• Blue Brain is a project, begun in May 2005, to create a computer simulation of the brain of mammals including the human brain, down to the molecular level.

• In rats - 10,000 neurons (and 10^8 synapses).

• The initial goal of the project, completed in December 2006, was the simulation of a rat neocortical column, which can be considered the smallest functional unit of the neo-cortex.

The Age of Spiritual MachinesRay Kurzweil

Eventually humanity and its machinery will become one and the same.

Portrayal of AI in movies

Research

Sleep Waking Fish Bird Robotic Cat & Fish

Sleep Waking

What was the idea behind the work?

• "Sleep Waking" acts as a way to "play-back" dreams. • hope to investigate one of the possible human-robot relationships. What was the motivation for producing it? • More and more robotic technology is being integrated into our society.• This furthers our experience of reality through agency. • Robots already go beyond the limitations of our bodies. • The robot is destined to be essential to our society. • What will humanity’s relationship be to the robot in the future? How was it implemented/performed?

• Record brainwave activity and eye movements during REM sleep,• This determines the robot’s behaviour, movements and head positions

Fish Bird

What was the idea behind the work?• Artwork that investigates the dialogical possibilities between

two robots.• It confronts major continuing issues and concerns regarding

interaction through the human/machine interface.• The work both requires and fosters notions of trust and shared intimacy 

How was it implemented/performed?• It uses wheelchairs that can communicate with each other and with their

audience through the modalities of movement and written text.• The manner in which the participants move in the space, their proximity to the

robots, and the time spent with them determines the behaviour of the robots towards them.

• Human participants try to read the ‘body language’ of the robots and visa versa.

• a lack of audience perception of the underlying technological apparatus focuses attention on the poetics and aesthetics of the artwork, and promotes a deeper psychological and/or experimental involvement of the participant/viewer.

Do robotic cats dream of electric fish?

What was the idea behind the work?• Robots and their integration into our society.

What was the motivation for producing it?• Blending into society, robots are now becoming more and more

life-like. • They are claiming to be acting as moral agents. • This robotic cat might have the ability and desire to experiment

social activities and pleasures such as the ones TV profusely offers. • Even though nowadays it is a luxury to own a sophisticated robotic pet, a robot

imitation, and not a real pet, maybe soon it will be the opposite.

How was it implemented/performed?• Nemo, the robotic fish, is swimming imperturbably in the screen, which is his

fish tank as well.• The robotic cat is sitting in front of the screen and he is watching it as if he

was looking at a real fish swimming in a real tank. • Time to time he gets up, meows and tries to catch the fish, without luck.

Proposal

Controller - for the electric wheelchair

• Path/Maze – correct path only be “seen” by the computer

• Lights indicate when the user has followed the correct path.

Electric Wheelchair

- User presses button to receive navigational assistance

- Relays information to the user

- personifies the wheelchair

See if you can work with the computer to navigate the invisible maze

Phase 1 – Total Control Phase 2 – Opposite Control

Phase 3 – Computer Control

Wheelchair says: “I’m bored... Lets dance!!”

User says: “Hmm... Maybe my chair is faulty.”

Wheelchair sings: “C’mon let’s twist again...”

User says: “Haha... I’m doing it! This is fun!”

How are you planning to do it?

What resources do you need?

– Electric Wheelchair• Makes user completely dependent upon the wheelchair an therefore vulnerable to it.• A wheelchair is an object that suggests interaction • Because of its relationship to the human – machine designed for assistance.

– Space• large enough for sufficient chair movement.• large enough to make a challenging path to follow.

– Sensors• Touch sensor - to be used on wheelchair for user to initiate voice feedback.• RFID – detects presence in a square and turns the corresponding lights on.

– Speaker • Speakers will be located on the wheelchair.• Speakers are fundamental in relaying instructions to the user.• The speakers personify the wheelchair, giving it character and personality.

– Lights/LED’s• Used to provide feedback for the user on whether they have gone the right direction

Timetable for development