Would You Kill a Robot?

If a robot begged for mercy, could you still "kill" it? In a modern-day interpretation of the of the famous Milgram Experiments, scientists from the University of Canterbury see how close people will go when told to "kill."

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[NotPeach-Seedz]

 someday theres gonna be some "robot rights act". 

[tumblejumble]

I would fail this experiment. I'd be taking kittybot home with me and petting it!

[Valkriecain]

I'd be able to kill the robot easily by switching it off. But I wouldn't want to smash it to death as that would be a waste of money and a perfectly good robot.

[BosonCollider]

This reminds me of the companion cube in portal.

[Abraxis]

I would certainly never imply in digital form that I would ever harm a robot.

[saphiriathebluedragonknight]

This has me thinking about the droids in Star Wars. They tend to have distinct personalities and yet most beings in the Star Wars universe treat their droids like servants. My guess on that would be that the beings of Star Wars are used to seeing droids and as such they are not something special to them. Of course there are expectations like Luke, or Anakin who cared a lot for R2, but that's R2. What's not to love about R2-D2?

[bre]

If a toaster asks me not to unplug it... I'd be like "I'm sorry, I.. I have to unplug you.. please don't burn my toast.. I love you.."

[Mionikoi]

Questions to ask a machine: Q- Are you useful enough that I should keep you operational? A- No. Q- Are you costing me resources more then you are making up for? A- No. Q- Are you more trouble then you are worth? A- Yes. Observation- Most likely I will be able to turn you back on in a period where you will be more useful and likely I will be able to make adjustments and repairs to help such a thing happen. Action- Turn the damn machine off without further thought. Post action- go about my business.

[TheNosoulevr]

If a robot or AI comes to the conclusion on it's own that it does not want to be shut off. It's request should be respected. Provided it's response is not pre-programmed somewhere in it's script.
i/e: it has to become aware of it's own function/operation independently and express that it wants to continue that process uninhibited.
This would be no different than a human wanting to continue it's own function/process.

Again, it would have to come to this conclusion independently. With no pre-scripted definition of difference between being on or off. It would have to figure this out on it's own. As well as be able to explain why it does not want to be shut off.
... it's explanation would be intriguing.

Primarily because it would have to use terms that express emotion like joy, fear or want, at some point in it's interrogation.
If it can do this without getting stuck in a cycular argument.
example: The color red is red because it's red.
Then that would imply that it has some understanding of what life, death, and emotion are and that it has applied these qualities to itself.
Which would hint at a self aware and conscious program.

One could not, "prove" that it was conscious.
But we can't prove that humans are conscious either. Minus the self claim that we are conscious, which is not proof per say.
This would be no different than a computer making that same claim if it comes to this conclusion of itself unaided and unscripted.

Having a little programming and scripting knowledge. I have some  skill of how to take an, "idea" or thought and encode it.
I could write a bit of code that makes my computers say, "I am conscious."
But that would be a hard coded and pre-scripted reply. And not something my computer decided on it's own accord. Therefore that would not be a display of consciousness.

How one could create such an elaborate program for self consciousness goes far beyond my skills and abilities. But it is obvious that it would have to be a self learning program... of which we have many.
One need only to search YouTube for, "artificial intelligence" to find example.

[thatotherguy]

Something to muddy the waters further: if you smash a robot with a hammer, you'll definitely "kill" it (for varying definitions of life and death), but would simply shutting it off be more like sending it to bed or putting it in a coma?

I'm already practicing for the uprising - I take effort and care to repair broken things, if possible, rather than throw it out and get a new one. I'm also excited about the mission, HAL!

[MoonlightEcko]

Honestly, just by listening to the story of the Robo-cat, I felt like as if it actually had a soul. Hmm, can us stupid humans create robotic-like souls? No natural flesh, and no mother you were actually naturally born from?

[mckemcke]

I can't wait for your guys channel to grow. Your channel has such good out put and it is very interesting! Keep up the good work. It will grow. Thanks.

[nAthaNkco]

If you can kill human you can kill robot. If you can kill kitten you can kill anything.
- Arthur C Clerk

[viquezug]

Robots become living beings at the single moment they care to perpetuate themselves (stay in one piece).

[BlackVYou]

Just think of it like this. What if it turns out your brother or sister where a robot all this time. The one you have so much memories with and love so much. Would you shut it off killing it? It's a robot yes, but think about all the times you spent together growing up, all the fun you had.

[mksabourinable]

As a kid I always empathized with... well everything, not wanting to be unfair to inanimate objects, or to hurt them.... As I grew up I lost this, but if something talked to me and had a discernible personality... I wonder :/

[xEnderx]

These studies remind me of an animation, Kara - Heavy Rain Dev trailer. Every one should watch this animation, it's amazing.

[PazuzuAll]

Legion (a group of over a thousand computer programs working together in a robot body) was one of my favorite squadmates in Mass Effect 2. Their views were always very interesting and philosophical. They only stepped out of their comfort zone to a galaxy where everyone fears their race to learn and try to understand organics without inciting violence. I'd totally have a hard time killing something like that.

[nintoforgi]

This is honestly one of the most fascinating Youtube videos I've seen in a long time.

[SesshReincarnated]

If my toaster asked, I would not listen. If Data or Legion asked, I would.