Social robots offer a preview of tomorrow's classroom

shinningelectr0n wrote:

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My first encounter with Vivaldi stayed with me. But instead of corn field movements, I picture more of Tuscany with olive gardens, rolling vineyards and the lazy rumps of distant hills. If music doesn't stir you to create images, it becomes the sound of the Three Stooges in the orchestra pit. I'm not speaking of little ditties like the Stones Get offa My Cloud but real movements. Another one that I find full of not just imagery but a titillation of all the senses is Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring. It makes me fly slowly at low altitude with many stops to perch at briefly.
No ... I don't do drugs.

Cousin Jethro wrote:

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The relatively partial-to-Haydn English musicologist, H. C. Robbins-Landon, characterized Antonio as, "Vivaldi did not write 500 concertos -- he wrote one concerto 500 times..." Yet this impression was not shared by J. S. Bach who transcribed Vivaldi works 18 times -- more than any other composer -- Copeland transcribed and adapted some Shaker music in Appalachian Spring

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shinningelectr0n wrote:

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I recall reading one of the original Shaker songs' lyrics Copeland used. It's beauty lies with its simplicity, something I suspect that Copeland appreciated. You hear this in some long sections of unobstructed melody.
Strange how someone can take, say, Jingle Bells and place it as a central theme into an accomplished work of art. This takes talent and an eye(ear) for the rough-cut diamond. Like turning a Quarter Pounder w/cheese into an epicurean delight.

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shinningelectr0n wrote:

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I can admire the pretty picture you've painted but I still envision a Brave New World subtlety here. Parents already treat public education as their legal right to a free babysitter. They look forward to having 5 days a week of quiet time. Extend this scenario into the future where classrooms are run by android social robots. Will children become emotionally attached to beautiful machines whose attachment causes unforeseen emotional conflicts? This all has the makings of a great prophetic sci-fi social saga that reality may mimic.
Social and political movements have always had a way of melding. Communism, Nationalism, racism, drug culture, religious movements that dictate governments' actions, etc. Assume for the moment that social robotics becomes the greatest, most efficacious teaching method ever devised. Imagine it in place when Hitler's Jugend (Youth) were being indoctrinated, Stalin's Communist League of Youth were being brainwashed or Michael Jackson celebrity-bots were born:)
You're probably thinking of me at this moment as some sort of conspiracy wacko who holds an unrealistic fear of the future. Or cynic. Or pessimist. But, you can't tell much about a plant by looking at the seed ... unless you've been farming all of your life and been reaping what you've sowed.

TrilbyKat wrote:

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That was an idealistic view - my best case scenario. Things rarely play out the way I'd like them to in real life.
Your points are all valid and I agree with them. Well, except the one where you make a supposition as to what I might think of you. I think that you are one of the clearest thinking and most entertaining writers on these boards.
The voice of caution is a necessary one. Programming robots to teach children is just one small interval away from programming children.
Technically though, we program our children anyway. That's why we say things like "Because I said so!" to our kids (just like our mom did) even though we swore we wouldn't. It's been programmed in and must be overwritten.
Sadly, many parents do want to turn the care and raising of their children over to others. Even at home kids are given over to the television or the computer, often at an extremely young age, with no adequate adult input or supervision.
Will children become attached to their robot teachers/caregivers? Of course they will. Asimov knew that when he wrote the short story, Robbie. It's not just children that will become attached though. There are currently electronic "pets" and virtual interaction available for all ages. For instance PARO, the Therapeutic Robot, is even being used to help the sick and the elderly in clinical settings.
http://www.parorobots.com/
If you have time, take a look at this excerpt from the book Cognitive Systems:
http://tinyurl.com/kp4kam
I do believe that the human factor needs to stay in our lives at all ages. Still, I wonder how long it will be before the first robot "spouse" comes online ...
As a side note on the drug culture, have you heard of sewer epidemiology? Here's an overview:
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2008-02...
Oregon State University just completed their study here on illicit drug use and meth was present in all our municipalities. It's just heartbreaking.
http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2009/j...

TrilbyKat wrote:

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It's not just children that will become attached though. There are currently electronic "pets" and virtual interaction available for all ages. For instance PARO, the Therapeutic Robot, is even being used to help the sick and the elderly in clinical settings.
http://www.parorobots.com/
If you have time, take a look at this excerpt from the book Cognitive Systems:
http://tinyurl.com/kp4kam
I do believe that the human factor needs to stay in our lives at all ages. Still, I wonder how long it will be before the first robot "spouse" comes online ...
As a side note on the drug culture, have you heard of sewer epidemiology? Here's an overview:
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2008-02...
Oregon State University just completed their study here on illicit drug use and meth was present in all our municipalities. It's just heartbreaking.
http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2009/j...

TrilbyKat wrote:

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As a side note on the drug culture, have you heard of sewer epidemiology? Here's an overview:
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2008-02...
Oregon State University just completed their study here on illicit drug use and meth was present in all our municipalities. It's just heartbreaking.
http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2009/j...

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shinningelectr0n wrote:

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The government is everywhere and soon they'll be inside my toilet. I live about 15 miles outside of a small town and it is interesting to note that a few of its roadway intersections have video cams. The grocery stores record my electronic purchases. The NSA is scanning my web activity.
The government will soon know what goes into my body and what comes out.
http://tinyurl.com/6alzd
But it is a fascinating piece of modern anthropology to sift through the intestines of society.

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TrilbyKat wrote:

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I should be scared, but that link was pretty hilarious. It really does seem that we're headed that way. Throw the dumbing down of our youth - aka Cousin Jethro's "declining" humans - into the mix (where's the hamburger button on this cash register?) and it's an information processing nightmare.
“Any fool can use a computer. Many do.”
(Ted Nelson)
“There are only two industries that refer to their customers as ‘users’.”
(Edward Tufte)
A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history – with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila.”
(Mitch Radcliffe)
If you ever write the story of that "little ol' lady in room 316" I really want to read it!
:)