Week Three: Robotics + Art

Carrying the air of one of the most dynamic themes of modern science fiction and cinema, Unit Three immediately reminded me of the immovable place that robot literature plays in science fiction. Through the works of such dynamic and fantastical authors as Isaac Asminov, Douglas Adams, and Terry Pratchett, robots and cyborgs have played central roles in all genres of science fiction literature, with many reprising such roles on the big screen in modern-day cinema. This blog post will focus on the artificial intelligence of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot (later made into a feature-length film) in order to flesh out how our society interacts with futuristic notions of industrialization, robotics, and artificial intelligence.

Artistic renditions of Asimov's work, such as that gracing the cover of this compilation of his short stories,
served as important stand-alone works of art in depicting his futuristic vision of a world with A.I.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/I_robot.jpg)

Set in a future dominated by technological aids to society (robotic flying cars, robot police officers, cyborg personal assistants), Asimov’s world initially represents the culmination of an industrialized society – one in which man’s every day life is dependent upon the productivity gains of mass-produced machinery. In many ways, this world also represents the culmination of Walter Benjamin’s prophetic future: a world in which appreciation for even something as sacred as human life is subservient to the greater good of the masses in away very much reminiscent of the lost aura that is discussed so much in his “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” This can even be seen in the laws super-imposed onto futuristic artificial intelligence (explained by Asimov himself here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWJJnQybZlk). However, as the series progresses, so changes the paradigm of technology and artificial intelligence as a parallel to human creativity. Symbolically – through the development of artificial intelligence that can individually perceive, create, and react to art intellectually and emotionally – Asimov shifts our frame of reference from one in which robots, these great pinnacles of industrialization, reduce the need for innovation and creativity, to a frame that sees robots as the originators of innovation and creative thought beyond that of even their creators.

Sonny, a sentient cyborg of Asimov's universe, represents an artistic
rendition of how a world with articifical intelligence could evolve
creatively beyond the tenets of Benjamin's notions of industrialization.
(http://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1367030/sonny-sentient-humanoid-robot-will-smith-film-irobot.jpg)

This symbolic change in paradigm reflects the both the fears inherent in technological development and the creativity inspired by robotic innovation. Whether or not humanity achieves artificial intelligence, the manifestation of this phenomenon through the themes of robotics in a dystopian future pushes our society to its creative brink by producing intensely thought-provoking works of art that bring humanity closer together around shared ideas of what it means to be unique and human. This more resembles Douglas David’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction,” and challenges us to place our industrialized, mass produced society in a context of increased mediums to communicate, evolve, and create.

References

Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. New York: Harmony, 1980. Print.

Asimov, Isaac. I, Robot. New York: Bantam, 2004. Print.

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Illuminations (Translated by Harry Zohn) (1968): n. pag. Print.

Davis, Douglas. "The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995)." Leonardo 28.5, Third Annual New York Digital Salon (1995): 381-86. JSTOR. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

"Isaac Asimov: The Three Laws of Robotics." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Pratchett, Terry. Feet of Clay: A Novel of Discworld. New York, NY: HarperPrism, 1996. Print.