Comments on: Noel Sharkey Interviewed, Admits Trying To Kill ASIMO

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By: classy

classy — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:53:24 +0000

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By: FelipeChoque

FelipeChoque — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:28:30 +0000

this was a wonderful interview and even more wonderful comments :D
Thanks to everyone of you!

By: Evan Ackerman

Evan Ackerman — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:39:37 +0000

The headline was sarcastic, of course… Although, if I were pretentious or something I’d say that I was attempting to make a point with a sensationalist headline that frames a robot as a victim. Good thing I’m not pretentious, right?

I’m not sure whether to say that “kill” is simply a figure of speech that can be applied to pretty much anything that transitions to an inoperative state. While the primary definition of “kill” is “to cause the death of,” the secondary is “to destroy the vital or active qualities of,” which is appropriate when it comes to robots. If you look up “death,” though, THAT definition refers to “the permanent ending of all life in a person, animal, or plant.” Not robot.

I don’t think of robots as alive, yet. To be considered for life, I think a robot would have to somehow transcend its original programming, perhaps by programming itself, something that learning robots and evolving robots are doing already.

Anyway, it’s fun to think about, and thanks for your sense of humor Noel :)

By: Del

Del — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:36:51 +0000

Noel,
I, and many people I know, use the word “killed” when referring to cars, robots, tools, toys, computers, anything really, that no longer functions properly. Recently the gremlins killed the TCC solenoid in my truck’s transmission. Before that my brother killed his car. My mother kills almost every electronic device she ever comes across ;)

It’s along the same lines as calling a depleted battery “dead” even though hardly anybody calls a charged battery “alive”.

By: Robotbling

Robotbling — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:37:23 +0000

Noel, you know ASIMO and its ancestors weren’t the first walking robots (Was that just the easy answer?). Prof. Ichiro Kato (Waseda University) pioneered walking bipedal robots in the ’70s before Honda began its research. And full-sized robots at AIST (HRP-2P) can get up on their own from a fall.

By: Barrett Ames

Barrett Ames — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:54:43 +0000

I love the response that Noel always gives us.

And evan you’re headline is something that you’d hate, very sensationalist just like “killer robots choosing own their own to kill millions of people!!!”

By: Noel

Noel — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:43:20 +0000

Great eye catching headline but now I will probably never be allowed to go near Asimo again.

The interesting question is, how can I kill something that is not alive. No one would say he killed my car (or maybe they would).

Anyway, Asimo is a wonderful little robot and I promise that I will never abuse one again if I don’t get a restraining order.
noel