Chua Enlai encounters sex robots – and wonders what it means for the future of humanity
Robotic beings haven't taken over the world however, just since everyone knows that it's merely a matter of time, information technology makes sense that to exist forewarned is to exist forearmed.
That'south why Chua Enlai spent months travelling the world to learn about Bogus Intelligence, or AI, for a new docu-series titled Becoming Man.
In the 4-episode series, he traverses 6 countries including China, Japan, Sweden and the US, speaking to people such as sex doll manufacturers, a family who believes in transhumanism, and cutting-edge AI researchers at universities and institutions.
Needless to say, viewing realistic-looking sex activity robots in San Marcos, California was one of the more unforgettable moments of his trip.
Although "we laugh and giggle nearly sex robots" – particularly when "near of the costumes they're clothed in are similar what you would run across in the blood-red light commune of Amsterdam" – seeing them did brand him think and reflect, Chua said.
"You do wonder why are people doing this. Is information technology considering they're lonely? Or maybe some people accept a disability? There are a lot of people out there who detect it difficult to have a human relationship. It made me think of my old age. Will I be lonely? Volition I desire a companion? Will it be a robot companion? It really could happen to me or to anyone," he said.
Over in Red china, he found that the efforts that are being put into research and development are nothing to sneeze at.
"Cathay is going to be undefeated in this future world of AI. It's really trying hard. There'due south a university that just does AI. They run across that as the hereafter and at that place'southward no turning back for them," he said.
That said, it was in Stockholm that he found the virtually forward-thinking attitudes concerning such a future. Fifty-fifty the teenagers he spoke to in that location, he said, brought upwards questions such every bit, "What are the things nosotros're going to be able to exercise with the time that's going to be saved with automation?"
On top of that, he quipped, "When I had to pay to go to the toilet with a credit card in Stockholm, I was like, 'Wow.' I would go to the toilet again just to be able to pay for that visit with a credit menu. I mean, how avant-garde is that, correct?"
There were also some experiences that made him wonder if AI was such a good idea after all.
"It'southward very trivial, but I filmed at Hai Di Lao in Beijing. What sets Hai Di Lao apart from all the other steamboat restaurants is the service. But here, the food's all sliced up and prepared in a main kitchen and sent to the restaurant, and machines, with robotic arms, exercise the distribution."
He connected: "Information technology seems so silly – why are you removing the one affair that makes you so special, which is the really good service; the warm service; the 25 hot towels that you receive when you eat steamboat? Wait, I already hate ordering via an iPad. I observe that a existent pity."
Bated, he added in a low whisper, "I went to Hai Di Lao in Singapore and I mentioned this robot thing to the waitress, and she was actually concerned about it. She asked, 'Is it going to take away my job?' A few times."
Another questionable feel took place at a robot hotel in Tokyo, where the crew'southward party of six had to cheque in via an automated kiosk.
"Usually, a man being grabs all the passports and does information technology all actually quickly," he said, but hither, information technology was a struggle to feed the passports into the car ane by one.
Finally, "They saw through the CCTV that this group of 6 were going to have far too long, and a human existence came out and did the bank check-in for united states. It was a lot more efficient that way," Chua said.
If there's any AI advocacy that tin't come quickly enough for him, it's autonomous vehicles.
"Traffic was perhaps the worst thing (on the trip)," he said. "It was the worst in Mainland china – we visited Chongqing and Beijing – and Japan. Information technology would take you an 60 minutes and a half simply to become out of the urban center. We had to leave the hotel before sunrise."
He can't look until driverless systems become a reality, he declared. "I've no qualms nigh getting an democratic vehicle. You tin do and so many things while you're being driven – read your script; post on Instagram; eat! And you don't have to wait for slowcoaches at the traffic light – yous know, the kind that doesn't movement when the lite turns green!"
Catch Becoming Human starting March 10, Sundays at 9pm on Channel NewsAsia or www.channelnewsasia.com/becoming-human
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/entertainment/chua-enlai-sex-robots-ai-technology-becoming-human-tv-show-251486
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