Synthetic Super Intelligence and the Transmutation of Humankind

Chapter 6: The Role of AI in Corporations and in the Media
be able to tell whether it’s a human or an artificial being. This technology
is already here, albeit still waiting to be released. When it’s on the market,
we will be able to choose what kind of personality this companion will have,
and we can get an attractive robot of the opposite sex, if we so desire. These
kinds of robots will soon be on the market. The entire idea reminds me of
“Hal” in Stanley Kubrick’s movie 2001—A Space Odyssey, which is based on
Arthur C. Clarke’s book of the same title.
Fig. 6-2: Driverless robo-buses to be introduced in the San Francisco suburbs.
In June 2015, the Japanese company, SoftBank Robotic Corporation, sold
all of its 1,000 robots the same minute they were up for sale. They sold for
$1,600 apiece and a $200 monthly fee was required on top of that. These
robots, that could be used as driver companions, not only can read the
driver’s emotions, but they can also express their own emotions. 161
As a side note, the same Computerworld article also mentions a hotel
in California, where they have “hired” a robot, working as a butler, serving
161
Ibid.
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