THE WIDER ANGLE. When dreams border on nightmares

“She emits something of a human presence,” says roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro, employing masterly understatement to describe his star android creation, Erica. Ishiguro, who heads the Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories, may have the air of a mad scientist. But with Erica, he’s redefining what it means to be human. Erica, who’s beautiful and discourses thoughtfully, says forthrightly: “Of course, I want to be more like a human... that is what I was designed for.” The scientist has also created what he calls a geminoid, an even more advanced android in his own likeness, right down to his own Beatle mop.

Erica and others, like Sophia from Hanson Robotics who’s modelled on Audrey Hepburn, are the cutting-edge creations of the robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) industries that have progressed faster than anyone could have imagined even a decade ago. In fact, AI’s moving so quickly many great minds, including billionaire inventor Elon Musk and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, predict robots will overtake us in intelligence and could turn against us. Musk warns apocalyptically: “With AI, we’re summoning the demon. We don’t know what’s going to happen once their intelligence is substantially greater than that of the human brain.” Musk felt compelled to speak out after becoming unnerved by the progress of his own research company, Open AI, whose goal is to create a “path to safe” AI with “ethical” robots. Just one example of AI’s rapid growth is driverless cars, which are becoming a reality way faster than people forecast a decade ago.

India has its own homegrown robot startups like GreyOrange Robotics, backed by Tiger Global, with its flagship ‘Butler System’ offering warehouse automation. Then there’s Systemantics which focuses on industrial robots. One Japanese company betting big on robotics is SoftBank. In June, it snapped up US company Boston Dynamics that’s come up with a Terminator-like robot, Atlas, which can stroll across uneven landscape and also lift crates and stack them neatly on shelves. Atlas and other robots could put millions of warehouse workers globally out of jobs. And it’s not just workers in low-skilled positions whose jobs may go. The International Bar Association asserted recently AI could oblige governments to enact quotas for human workers and that “jobs at all levels in society” are at risk of being “reassigned to robots or AI”.

Atlas could also serve as a prototype for a truly Terminator-like fighting machine. Another Boston Dynamics star is Big Dog, a canine-like quadruped that can trot along over the roughest terrain. Once again, Big Dog could be a soldier’s friend, carrying heavy loads into battle. Boston Dynamics was originally owned by Google holding company Alphabet and it’s speculated they sold out because they were uncomfortable with the military possibilities of the company’s robots. Still, SoftBank clearly believes a robotic future is just round the corner and is also buying Schaft, another Alphabet company which has built a robotic creation that can carry weights of up to 60kg while marching over the countryside. Another SoftBank creation is Pepper which is being used as a receptionist and has the ability to divine certain human emotions.

When it comes to robotics the country that stands far out in front is Japan, driven by the needs of its growing elderly population. Companies like Softbank and Fanuc Corp, which makes industrial robots, and scientists like Ishiguro, believe Japan will need robots to fill the gaps on factory and shop floors. A Nomura Research Institute paper suggests 49 per cent of Japan’s labour force will be replaced by AI technologies over the next two decades. Another Softbank creation which is being worked on in Europe is Romeo, specifically designed to aid the elderly. There's also Fujitsu which has developed Hope, a robot that learns movement and which has what’s called a “dynamically configurable neural network”. Hope’s artificial neurons function almost like those in the human brain, learning as it goes along.

Robots that mimic the human brain should be scary enough. But an even more frightening prospect that’s already with us in a limited way is robot wars — artificial intelligence and robots of different kinds that will lead the way into the battlefield. We already have Predator drones equipped with Hellfire missiles controlled and fired from halfway around the world. In the future, military strategists and scientists are working on machines that take split-second decisions on their own and will rain hellfire without human intervention. Musk leads a group of 116 AI scientists who wrote to the UN in July calling for a ban on autonomous weapons.

Some scientists scoff at such fears but there are already weapons like Samsung's SGR-A1 sentry gun which has voice recognition and tracking and is said to be able to fire autonomously. More lethally, there’s BaE Systems supersonic stealth drone Taranis, named after the Celtic god of thunder. The company says blandly that a “pilot” can manually control the craft remotely but it does have an “autonomous flight mode in which it is trusted to ‘think’ and carry out missions on its own”.

At a different level, there are Terminator-like creatures that can be sent into the battlefield to minimise human casualties and miniature drones that could be used to scout territory. Also, there are exoskeletons, making it possible for soldiers to carry heavier loads and march longer distances. These will change the face of warfare but are slightly less scary because they aren’t weapons that might develop a mind of their own. In the US, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is leading the way into the new world of warfare. On a more benign note, it’s also promising huge leaps in biotechnology and prosthetic limbs controlled by neural commands.

The Hanson Robotics scientist took Sophia to the Hong Kong music festival, Clockenflap, last year. Sophia took to the stage like a pro and belted out a Bjork number. “I want to learn to understand people better so I can absorb human knowledge and values,” Sophia confided. That’s a comforting mission statement and we can only hope that a future Sophia, with even more intelligence, doesn’t suffer a change of heart.