The World in 2030

The World in 2030 279
I have had some contact with robots and I can’t say I
agree with these conclusions. We will anthropomorphise
our robots and we will adapt to their presence long
before they adapt to ours. As a result we humans will
have some very complex questions to answer as real
intelligence begins to emerge within machines and starts
to forge relationships with us. Our human societies have
developed moral and ethical codes for inter-personal
behaviour over many millennia and, as well as teaching
these to robots and other intelligent machines, careful
software programming and thorough legislation will be
required to protect humans.
The earliest forms of the emergence of cognition have
already been seen in the science of robotics. Already a robot
has been built which can recognise ‘himself’ in a mirror (a
classic test of cognitive development). New Scientist reported
this impressive feat in May 2007:
Nico gazes into the mirror in front of him. Looking
back is his reflected self, wearing a grey Yale University
sweatshirt and a baseball cap cocked at a jaunty
angle. When Nico raises an arm, he recognises the
arm moving in the mirror as his own.
It may not sound like much of a feat, but Nico is a
humanoid robot. He has just become the first of his
kind to recognise his own reflection in a mirror. 502
Of course, intelligence in a robot may not be located
within its physical frame. As we ourselves are becoming
increasingly creatures of the networks, so we must expect