In
the 2020 Paranormal Romance Guild’s Reviewer’s Choice Awards, Life for Sale was
nominated in Romance/Sci-fi and the series (Love for Sale and Life for Sale
about humanlike androids) was nominated in Romance/Sci-fi-Series. How much of
these books predicts the future of android technology?
Recently, Toshiba introduced Junko Chihira, a very realistic human-like android. She is 5’5”, 26 years old, and her birthday is 6/1. She works in a new tourist information center in Japan. The android speaks Japanese, Chinese, and English—handy if you work in the tourist trade. A hotel in Japan has a robot staff though I read they hat to fire ½ of their robot workers. I wonder if it was for sexual harassment! A female android named Geminoid F stars in a Japanese film from director Koji Fukada. "Sayonara" premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
Erika is a creation of
Osaka University, Koyo University, and ATR. She was ‘born’ in Japan in 2015
(the year Love for Sale was published). When Erika is listening, she blinks and
moves her eyes and head. The following link is a YouTube video of Erika and a
child, illustration AI’s possibilities with children. She is pretty and
interacts well. She pauses while she processes in this conversation, but her
answers do not sound at all scripted but real-time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFT7iM3FDUI&feature=youtu.be
Probably the most
life-like is the android Sophia by Hanson Robotics. Sophia has appeared on The
Tonight Show as well as addressed a UN committee. She has been granted
citizenship by Saudi Arabia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omgJi5-YT6U
Hanson boasts other
robots, one designed to look like Einstein.
In 2005, Hanson debuted Philip K. Dick II. He was designed by David Hanson as a robotic version
of the popular writer of sci-fi. The original Philip K. Dick android was lost
on a flight from Dallas to San Francisco in late 2005. However, in 2011 Hanson
Robotics, together with Dutch broadcasting firm VPRO, developed a new version,
including state of the art computer vision technology. This robot employs 36
servomotors to power a complex and wide range of facial expressions. These
days, PKD serves researchers at the Apollo Mind Initiative.
These
are just a few representatives of the strides we are making in humanoid robots.
The androids in my books, all products of imagination, are getting closer. In
Love for Sale, the androids are being sold as the perfect lovers. Even now,
robots are being used as companions for the elderly, in nursing homes, and as
teachers with success.
Christian from Love for Sale and Life for Sale:
4 comments:
Fascinating post, Linda. I've been binge-watching Picard (CBS All Access), a Star Trek spinoff. In this series, synthetics, Androids, are banned. But Data (from ST Next Gen) had made 2 androids, his daughters, so to speak. The girls act just like real young women. They eat, sleep, dream, make choices. The question is: are they real people?
Another wonderful and fascinating post about A.I.'s, Linda! Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful article, Linda! I'm with Diane, just finished season one of Picard. I won't give any spoilers out, but the ending was an open question as to whether death is what defines humans as longevity does not....
Thank you all for taking time to comment. I'm going to have to watch Picard. As much as I love androids, I do not think they are real people. They are only creations of Man. Without getting into higher powers, that is. Regardless of their emotions, they're still programmed into a very sophisticated machine. I'd absolutely adore if I had a Christian (the android from my series), and I might even fall in love with him. One of the dangers of creating such sophisticated AI is the controversy that will arise. The one Picard appears to pose. Do you believe they are real people?
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