How do you feel about robots?

I'm also going to point out that this book exists.

Or Grimwade's Syndrome (aka Robophobia) in Doctor Who. It's the uncanny valley dimension.

Yeah he's the only android (non phone) I like.
Actually that reminds me:

I got confused for a minute because I was thinking Star Trek replicators which are a completely different thing! XD 

I forgot to say that I really enjoy and find it hilarious the way people fear robots, and how their fears manifests in moviemaking business, e.g. Replicators from Stargate

'He was sure it was to be his last journey. The philosopher René Descartes had been summoned by Queen Christina of Sweden, who wanted to know his views on love, hatred, and the passions of the soul; but although he was happy to correspond with the Queen, Descartes was loath to become part of her court. He felt, he said, that "thoughts as well as waters" would freeze over in Sweden and, since that winter was particularly harsh, he believed he would not survive the season. He even feared, he wrote to a friend, "a shipwreck which will cost me my life." But Christina's whim was his command. Filled with foreboding, he packed his bags, taking all of his manuscripts with him.

He was travelling, he told his companions, with his young daughter Francine; but the sailors had never seen her, and, thinking this strange, they decided to seek her out one day, in the midst of a terrible storm. Everything was out of place; they could find neither the philosopher nor the girl. Overcome with curiosity, they crept into Descartes's quarters. There was no one there, but on leaving the room, they stopped in front of a mysterious box. As soon as they had opened it, they jumped back in horror: inside the box was a doll - a living doll, they thought, which moved and behaved exactly like a human being. Descartes, it transpired, had constructed the android himself, out of pieces of metal and clockwork. It was indeed his progeny, but not the kind the sailors had imagined: Francine was a machine.'

(Source: New York Times)

Simon, are you a precog?

Today one of workmates asked me: ''Don't you think we're like robots?'' He isn't autistic, He just doesn't enjoy repetitious restocking shelves.

I told him: ''I wish. They don't have feelings. I wouldn't have to feel so confused around people anymore''

The way I see it:

What is called AI these days is just an advanced, often self-learning software, but it isn't conscious, and have no feelings, though might be programmed to fake them. In my opinion because of the way programming works on basic level (0 or 1) it can't and won't evolve, so it will never become conscious.

But if we put in charge to wake us up, and all people would go sleeping in hibernation, it would be our doom.

The history of robots is really interesting:

'The scholar Daoxuan (596-667 AD) described humanoid automata crafted from metals that recited sacred texts in a cloister which housed a fabulous clock. The "precious metal-people" wept when the Buddha died.'

'In the 1770s the Swiss Pierre Jaquet-Droz created moving automata that looked like children, which delighted Mary Shelley, who went on to write the novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.'

'In 949, Ambassador Liutprand described automata in Emperor Theophilos' palace, including:

"Lions, made either of bronze or wood covered with gold, which struck the ground with their tails and roared with open mouth and quivering tongue," and "a tree of gilded bronze, its branches filled with birds, of bronze gilded over, and these emitted cries appropriate to their species."'

'The 12th-century inventor Al-Jazari created a musical automaton, which was a boat with four automatic musicians that floated on a lake to entertain guests at royal drinking parties.'

en.m.wikipedia.org/.../History_of_robots

I tend to get emotionally attached to objects that have played a big part in my life. My first car. Computers. Etc. it’s like they’ve seen me through so many hard spots in life. Maybe some people feel this way about pets. I’m sure if I had a robot I might feel that way about it too.

robots don’t scare me. People scare me. Especially stupid people and their potential for destruction in the name of trying to stop what they don’t understand. And people sometimes use robots. The potential of robots to infringe my privacy concerns me. The notion of one selling me a hamburger does not.

It isn't the robots nor AI that we should concern ourselves with, it's the humans that develop, programme and control them (at inception)  that should be our primary interest in this matter....in my opinion.

Generally, my default "do I trust" setting towards an unknown human is somewhere between zero and minus one, so it follows that this is my same response to robots....until such time that cats, dogs, horses, rabbits, cows or birds can learn to programme them!

Robots don't have a sense of humour. They will never have that internal spark that lights up when something is funny or surprising. That's a human thing that I don't think robots will ever have naturally.

I'm sorry for not replying to all your (interesting) posts, folks - I just feel a bit overwhelmed sometimes. Thank you very much for all your views. :)

I forgot to mention this, but I don't like the Alexa, or any open mic device. I like mechanical things but don't like things that do things automatically ie gives the impression of thinking when it isn't really thinking, even algorithms I'm not keen on because they have no emotional or ethical regulation of what they do with the data so even the most convincing humanoid automatron would me with dread and an instant distrust.
Which is different from human controlled Robotics, which are fine.

I was born during the story that introduced K9 to Doctor Who, and as Star Wars was making waves. By earliest memories time, the notion of androids or robots with friendly personalities who notionally didn’t have feelings but you suspected might be a sort of missing link to exactly that (an authentically emoting AI) was well into the zeitgeist. Reality is only beginning to catch up with the outer fringes of that. I don’t have an Alexa but when I speak to the one in my mum’s house I thank ‘her’ for the information provided as maybe it says more about me than ‘her’ if I don’t show basic civility and consideration to the household help so to speak. 

* What is your emotional or intellectual reaction to robots/AI?

Robots could be very useful to care for people:

"Care robots could revolutionise UK care system and provide staff extra support":

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/care-robots-could-revolutionise-uk-care-system-and-provide-staff-extra-support

Also help Autistic people:

"Socially intelligent robot helps autistic Somerset pupils":

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-57622059

"A Guide to Using Robots for Autism"

https://www.autismparentingmagazine.com/using-robots-guide/

* Do they leave you cold, scare you, or are you completely uninterested in them/it?

Artificial intelligence has become a useful part of day today life. I am sure that this trend will continue and increase in the future.  I am not sure how anyone could avoid them.

* Are you perhaps overly-interested in the entire subject, or even emotionally-involved? - I have a professional interest in technology, so I have to take an interest.

* Are your reactions & opinions different to those of neurotypicals? - I don't know.

* And how do you feel about the way the wider world views both robots and autists? - I am sure that people might expect the robots of today to be a bit clunky, but over time the robots will improve. Unless people know someone is on the spectrum I would imagine that they will expect them to be like neurotypicals.

I had an enormous childhood crush on Data in Star Trek.

So yes, I love robots.  I don't think we are robots, but I think that in creative terms, they can be a good analogy for our experience.  There is a lot of science fiction satire in which robots represent the oppressed minority (or even majority) and inequality.

I think there are real life concerns about robots and AI taking over people's jobs, but that's been a concern since the industrial revolution and I don't think anyone has the answer yet.  I don't know if we'll ever reach a robot revolution like Terminator but it's something that needs to be considered.  Like Isaac Asimov's rules of robotics.

I think the advances in technology is amazing and I think it's amazing the science behind it all but at the same time it does bother me. 

I think perhaps we're already too reliant on them and technology in general. My step sisters car turns lights on for her, keeps the car straight for her... that bothers me lol. It bothers me that online robots can actually join sites like this. Its confusing and makes me uncomfortable. 

I think it's a cool idea but maybe we're using them too much. Lots of jobs already replaced by computers and the unemployment is an ever growing problem. 

I don't like them in my car (car needs to be a car not a computer with wheels, also hate the idea of a self driving vehicle, I still trust my own ability to drive over a computer anyday of the week) or PC (AI gets a bit big for it's boots, I regularly end up killing Cortana on multiple devices and installing anti-trackers for the internet), other than that I think they are really cool.

I realise I'm using the term robots very liberally, but as they do require AI as a common denomenator I hope you don't mind if I group them accordingly and separate them out later.