Unit 3: Robotics + Art

The idea of robotics arose during the Industrial Revolution, “as a response to the mechanization of labor” (Vesna). The concept of automation and mass production became prevalent and continues to exist in our daily lives. As robots permeate into people’s daily lives, robots threaten humanity’s culture by taking jobs away from humans and posing as a large risk to the essence of human nature itself.

Robots are becoming more human-like

There are multiple estimates that robots will displace millions of people from their jobs by 2035 (Winick). This is a foreshadowing that something similar that occurred during the Industrial Revolution will occur in the future. Automation can help improve our lives, but threatens to take our jobs away. Yet, society accepts automation because without automation, society risks falling behind in this industrialization race. The idea of mechanization and robots is prevalent in industrialized countries including Japan and the United States, but both culture have different perspectives. In the United States, robots were vital to the Industrial Revolution and generally designed to perform one specific task (Kusahara).

Baymax 

In Japan, robots are important to Japan’s mechanization, but are more human-like or humanoid in nature. This was seen in the movie Big Hero 6 where the movie’s protaganist Baymax is a robot that is less robotic and more soft and friendly. Baymax’s main function is to provide healthcare and he excels at his function, while possessing many human characteristics and relatable quirks including curiosity and clumsiness. While the United States has long separated robots from humans by portraying robots as a menace in media, the line is getting blurred. David Hanson has designed robots that are capable of facial expressions and possess a “character engine” (Hanson). Zeno is a robot that is being mass manufactured, and Hanson aims to bring Zeno to the masses as a companion and teacher for children. While robots have not reached human empathy levels, robots become more human-like as technology advances. 

As Walter Benjamin said, there is an aura of authenticity that surrounds the original artifact or artwork. Thus, reproduced robots will never reach the authentic essence of humans theoretically. At the same time, with mechanical reproduction, robots have become more apparent and conventional. Similar to the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s, new technology and processes have developed and the public has slowly grown accustomed to the pervasive influence of robots and technology in industrialization.

                                                    Zeno, mass-produced robot 

Sources: 

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Germany,  1936.

Hanson, David "Robots that 'show emotion' " TED Talk, uploaded by TED, February 2009, https://www.ted.com/talks/david_hanson_robots_that_relate_to_you/up-next
Harkins, Sarah. Humans vs Robots. https://medium.com/so-digital/post-14-100dde355674. Accessed 18 April 2018. 

Kusahara, Machiko. "Robotics MachikoKusahara 1" YouTube, uploaded by uconlineprogram, 14 April 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQZ_sy-mdEU 

"RoboKind ZENO R50: Robot Introduction" YouTube, uploaded by Robokind Robotics, 26 April 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWhyExDKe4Q 
Vesna, Victoria. "Robotics pt1" YouTube, uploaded by ucolineprogram, 15 April 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRw9_v6w0ew 
Vesna, Victoria. "Robotics pt2" YouTube, uploaded by uconlineprogram, 15 April 2012,   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAZ8bo9T_Pk

Winick, Erin "Every study we could find on what automation will do to jobs, in one chart". Business Impact, 25 January 2018, https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610005/every-study-we-could-find-on-what-automation-will-do-to-jobs-in-one-chart/. Accessed 21 April 2018.  

http://www.createcg.net/baymax-big-hero-6-free-3d-model/ Accessed 18 April 2018.