Be Right Back Discussion Questions
) How does social media affect the relationship between the two romantic partners in the episode Be Right Back, before he dies?
2) How has the way we deal with grief changed due to social media? Consider for a moment Facebook's "Legacy Contact" option, which allows users to select a friend or family member to keep their account alive (think of a "digital" gravestone) after their death, or to elect to have ones account deleted upon their death.
3) How is this Facebook Legacy Contact option similar to the robot technology in the episode Be Right Back? If the technology in the episode were really possible, do you think it would be ethical to bring back someone back in this manner after they die? What are the potential consequences of doing so (consider what happens to the woman in the episode)?
4) What are some of the existential questions that AI and androids raise, in this episode and more generally? What do they have to teach us about what it means to be human? *Existential means "having to do with existence," and existential questions refer to the 20th century philosophy of Existentialism, which questioned why we exist and the purpose of human life.
5) What are some of the ethical questions that AI and androids raise, in the episode and more generally? *Ethical has to do with morality, with what is right and what is wrong. (Consider as well the company who creates the robot).
6) How do concepts of the "real" and the "fake" play out in the episode? What is real, what is fake, and when does the line between the two become blurry?
7) What similarities do Robot Ash and Human Ash have? What differences?
Lastly, please construct an android, taking into consideration one of science fiction writer Isaac Asimov's maxims in his "I, Robot" series that the first rule that should be programmed into a robot is that they cannot harm a human. Your goal is to create a robot that is ethical, a support to human life, and cannot cause harm to people. What will your robots job be? What will they look like? Why? What are the "rules" it must follow? Despite your positive intentions, what potential problems might your robot cause? Give it a name and draw a sketch of it.
2) How has the way we deal with grief changed due to social media? Consider for a moment Facebook's "Legacy Contact" option, which allows users to select a friend or family member to keep their account alive (think of a "digital" gravestone) after their death, or to elect to have ones account deleted upon their death.
3) How is this Facebook Legacy Contact option similar to the robot technology in the episode Be Right Back? If the technology in the episode were really possible, do you think it would be ethical to bring back someone back in this manner after they die? What are the potential consequences of doing so (consider what happens to the woman in the episode)?
4) What are some of the existential questions that AI and androids raise, in this episode and more generally? What do they have to teach us about what it means to be human? *Existential means "having to do with existence," and existential questions refer to the 20th century philosophy of Existentialism, which questioned why we exist and the purpose of human life.
5) What are some of the ethical questions that AI and androids raise, in the episode and more generally? *Ethical has to do with morality, with what is right and what is wrong. (Consider as well the company who creates the robot).
6) How do concepts of the "real" and the "fake" play out in the episode? What is real, what is fake, and when does the line between the two become blurry?
7) What similarities do Robot Ash and Human Ash have? What differences?
Lastly, please construct an android, taking into consideration one of science fiction writer Isaac Asimov's maxims in his "I, Robot" series that the first rule that should be programmed into a robot is that they cannot harm a human. Your goal is to create a robot that is ethical, a support to human life, and cannot cause harm to people. What will your robots job be? What will they look like? Why? What are the "rules" it must follow? Despite your positive intentions, what potential problems might your robot cause? Give it a name and draw a sketch of it.
Comments
Post a Comment