by Christyl Rivers

Created on: July 14, 2010

Using Robots as Teachers and Soldiers

Doomsday? Godzilla? Or a really cool field trip?

The modern world could not get by without robots.  They build our cars, video tape our activities, explore other planets, and are generally enslaved to the human race.  Should we employ them as teachers and soldiers?  There are many factors to consider.

 As teachers, yes, this makes sense.  We already have computers in the classroom, but having robots take on more of the workload should help students learn about science, math, and technology at school.  The global challenges we face today may be helped by factual and unemotional assistance.  It is also important to get children off the flicker mentality of computer screens and outdoors where Nature reveals her deepest and most enduring lessons.  As Einstein advised, we need new minds to look deep, deep into nature to understand everything better.  It may seem like a contradiction to have MS. Krab Apple Android as a field trip leader, but both tolerating and enthralling the kids is important too.  Human teachers get burned out as a result of children’s natural energy and exuberance.

Humans will have the passions, say, to alleviate climate change disasters, cure disease, and end starvation.  And humans would program and build the robots of course.  But what about a robot revolution when capable and wily robots turn on their masters and destroy the human race?  We have seen it happen so often in science fiction.  Then, again, we have seen lots of black and white issues in fiction that we realize fall realistically somewhere in the gray area of complex reality.  Godzilla was born of nuclear contamination and very imaginative Japanese movie makers.

There have been many revolutions on the planet, and so far none of the oppressed has eliminated the oppressors completely.  But what about a D.D.D.?  Dreaded Drone Disaster?  This could be an actual problem, as our species has been known to ignore the consequences of our technology before.  Robot soldiers are quite a different critter than robot teachers.

Technology is a mixed blessing.   The atom bomb gave us Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and  the end of WWII.  Destruction or contamination of habitat and balance has given us life threatening epidemics and events like Katrina’s flooding, and catastrophic dust bowls and desertification.  Armaments of modern warfare

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