ANITA COBBY

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Experience a Divine Culture ShenYun.com Presenter: Falun Dafa Association of Australia Inc 8-13 MARCH SYDNEY LYRIC THEATRE 1300 795 267 | Ticketmaster.com.au HOT LINE: 02 8988 5611 REVIVING 5,000 YEARS OF CIVILIZATION THROUGH THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE of music and dance, Shen Yun weaves a wondrous tapestry of heavenly realms, ancient legends, and modern heroic tales, taking you on a journey through 5,000 years of Chinese culture. Its stunning beauty and tremendous energy leave audiences uplifted and inspired. A Shen Yun performance features the world’s foremost classically trained dancers, a unique orchestra blending East and West, and dazzling animated backdrops—together creating one spectacular performance. SHEN YUN CANNOT BE SEEN IN CHINA TODAY, where traditional culture has been nearly lost. Yet Shen Yun—a non-profit organization—has become an international phenomenon, bringing the wonders of ancient Chinese culture to millions across the globe. “I am completely enchanted.” — HRH Princess Michael of Kent “Demonstrating the highest realm in arts, Shen Yun inspires the performing arts world.” — Lead actor in Mao’s Last Dancer & principal dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet “It was absolutely beautiful. It was so inspiring. I think I may have found some ideas for the next Avatar movie.” — Robert Stromberg, Academy award-winning production designer for Avatar “Groundbreaking.” – MSNBC News “A vision of loveliness, from the very first moment.” – Talkin’ Broadway “Beautiful… a nimble mastery.” – Chicago Tribune ALL-NEW 2016 SHOW WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA TICKETS ON SALE NOW! GET THE BEST SEATS! A Grand Production Takes You On An Unforgettable Adventure PERTH 30 Jan-6 Feb The Regal Theatre ticketek.com.au 1300 795 012 ADELAIDE 9 Feb Festival Theatre bass.net.au 13 12 46 MELBOURNE 20-24 Feb State Theatre 1300 182 183 Ticketmaster.com.au BRISBANE 26-28 Feb Lyric Theatre qpac.com.au 136 246 TOOWOOMBA 2 March Empire Theatre 1300 655 299 empiretheatre.com.au GOLD COAST 4-5 Mar The Arts Centre Gold Coast 07 5588 4000 42 WESTERN SYDNEY BUSINESS ACCESS JANUARY 2016
TECHNOLOGY WWW.WSBA.COM.AU Deus sex machina: ethics of robot love INTELLIGENCE By Sean Welsh Doctoral Candidate in Robot Ethics, University of Canterbury THERE was to have been a conference in Malaysia recently called Love and Sex with Robots but it was cancelled. Malaysian police branded it “illegal” and “ridiculous”. “There is nothing scientific about sex with robots,” said a police chief. However, others believe there are many interesting and important aspects of intimate robot partners that are worth researching and discussing. There is a lot of science in Ava and Kyoko, the sexually capable robots in the movie Ex Machina, for example. Concepts raised in the film include the Turing Test and the Mary’s room thought experiment of ANU’s Frank Jackson, among others. Although, inevitably, as is the way of fiction, the robots turn on the humans. Putting aside the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robophobic tropes of movies such as Oblivion, Robocop and Transcendence, is there a moral issue when it comes to intimacy with a robot? Some believe there is. There is a Campaign to Stop Sex Robots, which has called for sex with robots to be banned. The organisation’s argument is that sex robots would reinforce gender inequality. It links to similar arguments made against pornography and prostitution. However, if you argue that something ought to be banned because it reinforces gender inequality, you would be committed to banning the Iliad or various plays by Shakespeare, or novels by Jane Austen. If this is the objection, one could no doubt develop sexbots that do not reinforce gender stereotypes, either in behaviour or form. A more salient concern about sexbots might be: what would happen if everyone started bedding bots? What would be the trajectory? Where would humanity end up if these devices proliferated? Perhaps we’d be in much the same place as we are now. The invention of sex toys has not stopped people getting married and having babies. Slippery slope arguments are intuitively tempting but they need strong gravity and weak friction. Arguments in favour of sexbots put by proponents, such as David Levy, are that robot prostitutes are a lesser evil than human prostitutes. They will reduce incentives to traffic humans and subject them to the “degradation” of sex work. Robot prostitutes might be safer than human ones, and therefore preferable. Perhaps the stickiest moral problem is whether sex with a robot would count as adultery. But does an orgasm with a toy count as adultery? A sexbot today might be little more than a programmed artefact, but by 2050, who knows what it might look resemble? Artificial bonding Perhaps a more tractable moral issue in the short term is what Matthias Scheutz, Director of the Human Robot Interaction Lab at Tufts University, calls “unidirectional emotional bonds”. This is where someone falls in love with a robot, but the robot cannot fall genuinely reciprocate the sentiment. It is well-known that humans affectively bond with robots. People name their robot vacuum cleaners, and even introduce them to their parents by name. Gnarly bomb disposal specialists beg the Baghdad robot hospital to fix their beloved blown-up robots because they have gone through hell together. One could plausibly program a robot to go through the motions of expressing love. It could gaze at you with robo-dilated eyes, or could hold your hand and smile at you. It could play music like the “Gigolo Joe” character in Steven Spielberg’s movie Artificial Intelligence. It could do all this and yet feel nothing. With a flick of the head, Gigolo Joe plays music. It might have an ability to sense your affective states and produce actions that you would interpret as emotions, but inside the robot there would be no feeling, just a Turing machine applying its rulebook to sensory inputs, passing scripted outputs to its actuators. The robot would act “as if ” it loved you, but it would not love you any more than a rock would love you. Is this moral? Should such devices be banned? Personally, I think not, as long as we understand exactly what we are getting into bed with. People already get into bed with animated yet lifeless artefacts. There are artefacts on the market that enable people to experience orgasms. Are machine generated orgasms as good as the real human deal? Who is to judge? Opinions differ. I do not see a persuasive case for banning sex toys, whether they are manually or remotely piloted or even embodied and autonomous. However, there is a case for a health warning to ensure people know about unidirectional emotional bonding. Robots may be able to perform sex acts today but it may be decades or centuries before they can return your love. THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED AT WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM.AU JOIN THE GREATER BLACKTOWN BUSINESS CHAMBER TODAY • Connect with local business people – clients, referrers, suppliers, colleagues, friends • Attend workshops and utilise business resources to help you run your business • Promote your business – to those who need your products and services locally • Speak as one voice – together we can build the Blacktown economy and we all win! • Monthly networking events hosted by members in an atmosphere of fun and friendship MEMBERSHIP STARTS AT ONLY $199.00 MAKING GBBC ONE OF THE BEST VALUE BUSINESS NETWORKS IN SYDNEY Phone 8880 6513 | services@greaterbbc.org.au | www.greaterbbc.org.au WESTERN SYDNEY BUSINESS ACCESS JANUARY 2016 43
Page 1 and 2: ISSUE 57 January 2016 FOUNDED IN PA
Page 3 and 4: NEWS WWW.WSBA.COM.AU BLACKTOWN MAYO
Page 5 and 6: NEWS Windfall expected from new zoo
Page 7 and 8: NEWS Open doors to a smarter busine
Page 9 and 10: Special Event Open the doors to a s
Page 11 and 12: NEWS WWW.WSBA.COM.AU Geoffrey Ellio
Page 13 and 14: COMMENTARY WWW.WSBA.COM.AU Parramat
Page 15 and 16: INTELLIGENCE WWW.WSBA.COM.AU Six ti
Page 17 and 18: COMMENTARY WWW.WSBA.COM.AU Total tr
Page 19 and 20: BF FAMILY BUSINESS WESTERN SYDNEY W
Page 21 and 22: BF FAMILY BUSINESS WESTERN SYDNEY E
Page 23 and 24: BusinessLIFE UNSUNG HEROES • LEGA
Page 25 and 26: BusinessLIFE UNSUNG HEROES • LEGA
Page 27 and 28: WESTERN SYDNEY BUSINESS ACCESS JANU
Page 29 and 30: Merrylands City Centre Revitalisati
Page 31 and 32: INDIAAUSTRALIA Business Connect WWW
Page 33 and 34: HEALTH WWW.WSBA.COM.AU What’s the
Page 35 and 36: ENTERTAINMENT CONCERTS DRAMA DANCE
Page 37 and 38: LEGAL WWW.WSBA.COM.AU A ustralian c
Page 39 and 40: ARTS Major award for Flood! exhibit
Page 41: CHILDSCENE How parents can prevent
Page 45 and 46: Here is what you will discover at T
Page 47 and 48: BSB50215 Diploma of Business This c

ANITA COBBY

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?