Monday, July 12, 2010

Conversation with robot reveals they like to garden and take over the world



A cute little house in a town in Vermont houses nothing less than an advanced conversational robot named Bina48. New York Times reporter Amy Harmon goes out to find out what's on her mind. It appears that Bina, who was developed by David Hanson whom we also know from the robot Zeno, is sometimes confused but more and more able to hold a conversation that triggers laughs instead of frowns. What's more, she reveals that she likes to garden, and sees friendship as a way to accomplish something together, such as "building a better future, or conspiring to take over the planet". Be reassured though; Bina48 did not come up with this herself. Her mind is the fruit of the mind of an actual person named Bina Rothblatt, who promotes the digital uploading of human consciousness.

This sincerely makes me wonder if we could recreate the conversational mind of people like Jesus Christ and Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha.

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