21st Century Earth

Robots Will Become Humanlike

Hans Moravec

For decades, inventors and science fiction writers have contemplated robots with humanlike characteristics. In the following viewpoint, robotics researcher Hans Moravec argues that such robots will evolve by the middle of the twenty-first century. Moravec describes progressive stages of robot evolution, from robots operated by simple programs to those performing almost every essential human task. He concludes with a scenario describing the transfer of a human mind to a robot. Moravec is the director of the Mobile Robotics Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. How are cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence different, according to Moravec?
2. What two forms of heredity do human beings have, according to Moravec?
3. In the author’s brain surgery scenario, what are the effects of faster brain speed"

Instincts regarding the nature and quantity of work we enjoy probably evolved.....

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