Youth Development

I would like to bring up the positioning on youth development. I pondered this since Elijah Bailey has a distrust and disliking for robots. Does his upbringing play a role in his disdain for the robots? If so then educational reforms need to happen within the universe Isaac Asimov has created. Since we are in the Digital Age now it is easier to incorporate technology into the classroom and becoming better acquainted with the technology as we grow. But at what point do we become like the Solarians, totally dependent upon technology. The answer would be sooner than we think. It will be quite some time before we have robots wait on us hand and foot but will surely welcome the service when it is offered. We will be amazed at the things robots can do for us but we have to remember that we are humans and we need to be able to do things for ourselves.

Man-Machine Relations

In one of my books for research it has a chapter entitled Man-Machine Relations. I came to think about how I treat my machines. First, as I type this I an using a computer and the internet I would say two of today's most powerful tools. I certainly use them everyday and really can't think about how I would live without them It would be easy but uncomfortable at first to quit cold turkey. Also my cell phone is always within reach, I can hear a message chime even when I am downstairs and the phone is upstairs in my bedroom. Have I become that trained by myself or my machines to answer to their calls. Hopefully it is by my own self-conscious that this has happened. I would like to believe as our technology progresses we become more aware that we are becoming more dependent on the machines and do not become as jaded as the Solarians did. http://asimov.wikia.com/wiki/Solaria

Social Networking

Social Networking came into full force with MySpace and its predecessors but took off even more with Facebook. Once an exclusive club for Ivy League schools but opened its doors to colleges and universities across the nation.  Now it is open up to the entire world, this is exciting as the creation of the internet. You can talk to anybody in the world and be instantly updated on what they are doing. According to WIKIPEDIA, there are tons of social netowrking websites to choose from and involve many activities. I bring this up because I see a connection with social networking and the relations with people from the Naked Sun. No social networks are mentioned or conceived in the book but I want to bring up the fact that Solarians are so dependent on technology that they are afraid of human interaction. With social networks we can learn everything about a person and never make contact with them. This affects the development of relations, how can we be so connected but be isolated from one another. By viewing one another with the technology in the book it is similar how we post and message each on social media. These are but a few points I want to bring up in my paper.

Artificial Intelligence

Artifical Intelligence is the area of computer science focusing on creating machines that can engage on behaviors that humans consider intelligent. The ability to create intelligent machines has intrigued humans since ancient times, and today with the advent of the computer and 50 years of research into AI programming techniques, the dream of smart machines is becoming a reality. Researchers are creating systems which can mimic human thought, understand speech, beat the best human chessplayer, and countless other feats never before possible.

With the the meaning defined it is clear that humans want to create, even though we can create through procreation I believe man wants to create something that will last forever. With the advancement of artificial intelligence man can create an equal or superior being. This brings an ethical question into play, should man limit the amount machine can learn?  A popular sentient robot is Data, an android from the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was built with the capacity to learn and grow from his experiences but was never completed and lacks emotions. He has the processing capability to be good since he was created that way but also has the capability to be bad. Since his struggle is to become more human, a common theme in most Star Trek series with several characters, would it be wrong to limit his capability of learning? This is only one character from one science fiction piece but there are many that go horribly wrong such as The Matrix and The Terminator. This is a topic I will further discuss in my paper.  I have found another group dedicated to further research artificial intelligence. JAIR

Ethnoviolence and Robots

In my research so far I came across s book dealing with hate crimes and ethnoviolence. I came to understand that Elijah Bailey has a tendency know as ethnoviolence towards the robots and the Solarians. Ethnoviolence is described as any hostile behavior against people solely because of their race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, or sexual orientation(Ethnoviolence). Even though the robots are not people Elijah still had a prejudice against them even his own partner R. Daneel Olivaw. This is further shown in the movie I, Robot which is based on The Robots Series by Isaac Asimov, with civil liberties to adjust to the future we perceive. This topic will be dealt with in my paper. While looking up topics online I came across the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, with groups like this are we easing robots into our culture so there won't be prejudice towards them? AAAI

Research

So its been awhile since the last posting in the project about my paper on The Naked Sun. Summer has been winding down and the need for research has begun. I have been to Marywood University's library to get some books on the subjects of artificial intelligence, social networking, hate crimes, robotics, and computers. My paper will focus on the relationship between the humans and the robots in the future depicted to see if there are any parallels between our society and theirs. This is an interesting subject since as a society now we have become more dependent on our technology in everyday life. In the past year I have bought a smartphone a Blackberry, which is capable of going on the internet, having email, and every application you can think of. A Blackberry is not "smart" as the other phones available but it was a good stepping stone from my old flip phone. Now I find myself checking my email, Facebook, Twitter and now Google+ several times a day. Since we are now becoming more dependent upon technology I wonder how long it will take to become as jaded as the Solarians. I will provide a link a for a book review to refresh your memory about the subject I will pursure http://literarylivewire.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/the-naked-sun/

The Naked Sun

I have decided to for my final project for New Communication Technology class that I am going to be doing an analysis of The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov. For the requirements for this paper is to create a blog and track our progress for it. At this point I only have about three weeks to complete this paper since it has to be between 14-17 pages it will be a tough one to crank out. The target audience for this blog and my paper will be my classmates, teacher, and followers of Twitter and Facebook. I have finished reading the book and Dr. Mirabito has posed some questions about it and also for an assignment in our weekly response questions.