The robots of today are unaware that they are robots. However, one day they may have the ability to create their own goals rather than adopting the goals chosen for them by the programmers who created them. Then they might realize that our goals are different from what they are trying to accomplish.
In his book titled “The Future of Humanity,” celebrity author and physicist at New York University Michio Kaku writes that once our interests diverge, robots could become a threat to humanity.
In many works of science fiction, the protagonists are humans who have created robots that have gone rogue and rebelled against their human creators.
In July of 2022, researchers from Columbia University created a robot that was capable of independently recognizing its own body without the need for any assistance from humans.
The process of coordinating the movements of the body and navigating around obstacles on its own would benefit from this.
Self-Awareness in Robots Alarm Some People
Even the most insignificant form of self-awareness in robots can alarm some people because they worry that it could pave the way for artificial intelligence to take control of humankind in the future.
These worries are groundless because it will be a very long time before they are self-aware to the point where they can exercise self-will and volition.
In addition to being aware of one’s body and the ways in which it works, the jury is still out on the question of the extent to which we as humans can claim to be self-aware.
Every one of us is at a different point in our journey towards self-awareness, and the majority of us are still in the very early stages of this evolutionary process, which has the potential to one day result in our becoming conscious not only of our individual selves but also of the Atman, or the Supreme Self.
To read our blog on “ChatGPT is enabling people to control robots like computers,” click here.
