Exam 1

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The Usage of Technology Essay

Experts are raising concerns on the topic of technology for years. Generally, technology

can make the life of humans more straightforward, although the negative impacts cannot get

conversely ignored. Technology is the scientific and technical know-how in creating, designing

and monitoring machinery. It aids in making items that help in the life of humankind. Due to

advancement in technology, society has, however, changed dramatically. Before modern

technology, life was burdensome, and daily chores consumed more time. We, therefore, have a

video of Cynthia Breazeal getting involved in a TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk

on The Rise of Personal Robots. We also have another video of Sherry Turkle presenting

“Connected, but not alone?” on TED Talks. However, in this essay, we will summarize their

presentation and describe their separate positions as far as technological advancements get

concerned (Eguchi, 2016).

Cynthia Breazeal and her team are creating robots by the use of social intelligence which

learns and communicate in ways people do. She is the director of Personal Robot’s Group at

MIT Medical Lab. The main agenda of her research is to develop the technological principles for

creating personal robots which are very socially intelligent. It means robots which can

communicate and interact with humans in centric terms, perform tasks with humans as peers,

robots which can learn from people as an apprentice. Generally, Breazeal has created the world’s
most known robotic beings, that ranges from tiny hexapod robots to very costly humanoids, plus

social robot Kismet and the Leonardo, which is an expensive robot. From her new tasks, social

robs are helping human beings of different ages in attaining their objectives which boosts quality

lifestyles in genres of physical performance, family communication, health, learning and

education (Eguchi, 2016).

In the context of the video by Breazeal, from childhood, she had been fascinated by the

robot’s ideology as something that will delight humans. She knew that robs did not exist, but she

wanted to build them. She says that robotic is about interacting with things, not people. She first

created the robot Kismet and three years later created a robot that could interact with people. The

robot was at first the original of its kind and did not speak any language. Breazeal continued to

make a robot that could learn people reactions. In her explanations, she describes by use of

descriptions which the audience liked most. She equates robots to social technology since people

use them to push our social buttons and boost their functionality. Robotic creatures can be made

in such a way that they copy human being’s communication skills like body languages.

Generally, robots are getting used in understanding ourselves, like learning to mimic gestures.

Nonetheless, Breazeal says that if robots could respond to people in conversations, then

they could be significantly applied in communication. For example, if robots could get access to

our cellphones, people can make eye contact, move their hands to people far away. Robots can

create a higher rate of empath, engagement and collaboration through added mobility on the

robotic connection. Breazeal offers a great example which affects her personal life. She says that

she has three sons, and it is hard for them to connect with their grandparents, who are far away.

From their research, people interacted more with robots and trusted them more. People could
dress the robots and give them names. The future of her interaction with creating robots’ majors

in making robots that could interact with children in their daily lives (Häggström, 2018).

The next video is done by Sherry Turkle, Connected but Alone, and it raises different

meaningful insights on the effect of technology on the daily lives of the people in today lives as

well as future generations. Some significant points she discussed relates to the ideology that

while technologically connected, a human being body gets disconnected and removed from

reality. She notes that in daily lives, people connect by the use of texts via phones and sending

emails. She brings up the main pointy saying “generally we expect more from technology and

less from each other.” The whole society has continued to learn on technological aspects and

immersing themselves to lives of getting connected rather than the face to face conversing states

which are more genuine and real. In her speech, she remembers a young man who one day told

her that he would be pleased to learn real conversations. This indicated that there is a massive

problem in the community that will come in the upcoming years. Turkle demonstrates that “we

are letting the technology undertake us to places we don’t want to go in person”.

The primary question arising from Sherry Turkle is that, “as we increase in technological

advancements, do we expect less from one another?” she widely checks out how online personas

and other devices like phones are redefining the connection in humans. She stipulates that we all

need to check how we want our relationship with technology is and the way we want it to be.

The two speakers are different in many ways. In our first video with Cynthia Breazeal,

she supports technological advancements and implementation of robotic creatures into our daily

lives. Breazeal possesses her reasons and supports them adversely. She says that robots’ boosts

communication, health skills and takes great care of our children metabolisms. Nonetheless, on

the other hand, Sherry Turkle in her talk with TED, she stipulates clearly that technological
advancements have triggered a considerable change in our daily lives like making us lazy in one

way or the other.

In conclusion, people are continuing to lose their human characteristics and advancing

apply robotic features. An example is when Turkle describes the older woman in the nursing

section and talking to a robot. Generally, the woman feels like the robot understands and knows

her predicaments. She gets comforted by that, but the robot possesses no human life experiences

and cannot understand the human feelings definition. Turkle concludes that society does not

precisely look bright if humans continue trusting technology over overall real social encounters

(Häggström, 2018).
 Works Cited

The Rise of Personal Robots Cynthia Breazeal, Youtube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=eAnHjuTQF3M Uploaded 8 Feb 2011

Connected, but Alone? By Sherry Turkle, Youtube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=t7Xr3AsBEK4 Uploaded 3 April 2012

Eguchi, A. (2016). RoboCupJunior for promoting STEM education, 21st century skills, and

technological advancement through robotics competition. Robotics and Autonomous

Systems, 75, 692-699.

Häggström, O. (2018). Remarks on artificial intelligence and rational optimism. Should we fear

artificial intelligence, 19-26.