Judging from the graphic novel “Do
Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick and non-fiction text “The
Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology” by Ray Kurzweil, I agree that Rachel Eldon was an intelligent
being, moreover I also believe that androids will one day surpass humans in
intelligence. However, I do not agree with the notion that these artificial
beings will be able to possess emotions alike natural and biological humans.
In
the graphic novel, Rachel Eldon is an android who takes the “Voigt-Kampff Test”
which is a fictional representation of the Turing Test, in order to determine
if she is an android or a human. The test seeks to examine the individual’s
emotions and reactions, particularly the individual’s ability to be empathic. Furthermore,
Rachel would have successfully completed the test if it had not been for the
last question, which she was unable to answer in a timely and appropriately
enough manner that would have defined her as a human. Given the fact, that she
nearly passed the test, suggests that her intelligence is not only outstanding
and advanced, but is similar to that of a human being’s due to her ability to
answer all the other questions asked correctly. Furthermore, the artificial
intelligence that was bestowed upon her, allowed her to simulate human
functions in an accurate and efficient way. Moreover, the graphics throughout
the novel suggest that Rachel is an extraordinary replica of a human being, not
only physically but also psychologically, as it can be noted that many of her
cognitive skills, such as problem solving and reasoning are fairly advanced, to
the extent that it was not evident that she was a robot at the beginning of the
novel.
Alike
Philip K. Dick, Ray Kurzweil takes an optimistic stance in his non-fiction text
“The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology”, as he mentions that
it is possible to create robots that have a strong AI or a real consciousness
like biological human beings. He further discusses nanotechnology, a field
which he believes will help further develop the field of robotics and vice
versa, “The N revolution will enable us to redesign and rebuild molecule by
molecule our bodies and brains and the world with which we interact, going far
beyond the limitation of biology”(Kurzweil 203). A statement, which in my
opinion suggests that future advances in both fields will eventually yield
technology and knowledge that, will allow technology and science to simulate
our molecules artificially. Furthermore, the end result of such a scientific
breakthrough could potentially be the capacity to produce an exact artificial
replica of a functioning human brain, along with its complexities and skills,
but with a heightened ability to process and function material faster than that
of a human being’s.
As
previously mentioned, it can be perceived throughout the novel that Rachel
Eldon has remarkable human-like characteristics, despite the fact that she is a
robot. Such human-like qualities include her coquettish demeanor, her
personality, her aggressiveness and self-assurance, as well as her facial
expressions, which may ultimately be the result of her ability to perceive what
is taking place in her environment. Thus, I do not believe that she had
emotions alike human beings, as it was mentioned in the graphic novel that she
was programmed with an advanced form of the Nexus-6
program, in addition she was given false memories in order to organize and
live her life on the notion that she was an actual human being. Those two significant
features allowed her to better simulate human emotions and characteristics in
comparison to past android models, to the extent that even her autonomic
nervous system which is involuntary, and it also controls the motion of her pupils among
other physical reactions, operated on a level alike that of a human's. As David
Galernter mentioned in his text “Dream-Logic, The Internet and Artificial
Thought”, “Computers grow more powerful all the time. Today programs that are
guided not just by calculations but also by good guesses are important throughout
the software landscape. They are examples of applied artificial
intelligence…and the ultimate goal of artificial intelligence is to build a
mind out of software, a thinking computer…a machine with human-like (or super-human)
intelligence” (Galernter 259). I believe this notion directly applies to Rachel
as she possesses a mind out of a software which allows her to imitate human
functions, reactions, and emotions in accordance to societal expectations as
well as what would be potentially asked during the Voigt-Kampff Test. It is due to her specific and outstanding programming,
that I believe she does not possess a real consciousness, furthermore, the
reason why she ultimately failed the test. Since the last question was random,
unexpected and absolutely related to empathy, her programming was most likely
not prepared or updated for such a task, which contributed to her having to use
her other logical skills in order to “solve the problem”, like any other
calculation, which then further delayed her output.
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