Week 3: Robotics and Art

 Prior to this week, I did not think that art and robotics were connected. I always thought they were extremely separate fields and had little to no crossover. However, this week I learned that was false. Robotics and art are extremely related and interconnected. First, the beginning ideas of robots were influenced by artists. From Professor Vesna's lecture, I learned that the idea of a robot came out of theatre. It's really interesting to me to learn that theatre, music, and movies have all influenced the field of robotics and technology. Even more recently, media and art have continued to influence scientists. For example, Fahrenheit 451, both a movie and a novel, describes "seashells" as "thimble radios tamped right, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talking coming in..." (Bradbury, 1950). Guy Montag's wife Mildred uses these "seashells" to help her fall asleep. These are very similar to the earbuds we see today. Earbuds or AirPods are used across the world to listen to music and sounds. It is really interesting how technology that seemed futuristic in the past, are things we use on a daily basis today.

Fahrenheit 451 predicts earbuds or AirPods with "Seashell Radios"

I think art and robotics/technology has had many positive influences on each other. For example, robots have been influenced by art to have and express emotion. The TED talk by David Hanson discussed how he is creating robots with faces that look and act like humans. They can express emotions with their facial features, making them more emotionally aware. They can understand and respond to human's emotions. A lot of artistic design with the robots appearance and robotic work had to be done to create this amazing technology. I think that it is really interesting to see how both fields can improve each other. 

Robot that has been created to express emotions

However, Walter Benjamin argued that not all influences between the two are positive. Technology can have a negative influence on art. Walter Benjamin argued that mechanical reproduction could devalue art, by making them less rare and more accessible. I see this today for example, as technology allows for many people to recreate or copy artistic works. This can decrease originality, and can be harmful to the success of the artist. Additionally, the increase of automated machines has lead to art created by technology. For example, in 2018 a portrait was made by AI. I think this is a really interesting advancement, but could take away from human artists and potentially led to human art becoming less valuable.

Portrait made by AI

“Art Made by AI Is Selling for Thousands – Is It Any Good?” BBC Culture, BBC, www.bbc.com/culture/article/20181210-art-made-by-ai-is-selling-for-thousands-is-it-any-good. 

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Simon and Schuster, 1950. 

Chung, Stephy. “Meet Sophia: The Robot Who Laughs, Smiles and Frowns Just like Us.” CNN, Cable News Network, 1 Nov. 2018, www.cnn.com/style/article/sophia-robot-artificial-intelligence-smart-creativity/index.html. 

“Fahrenheit 451.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Apr. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451. 

Hanson, David. “Robots That ‘Show Emotion.’” TED, www.ted.com/talks/david_hanson_robots_that_show_emotion#t-53464. 

Osborne, Peter, and Matthew Charles. “Walter Benjamin.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 14 Oct. 2020, plato.stanford.edu/entries/benjamin/#ArtTec. 

San Francisco Robotics Society of America (SFRSA), www.robots.org/. 

Tsukayama, Hayley. “Dreams of Ray Bradbury: Predictions That Came True.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 6 June 2012, www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/dreams-of-ray-bradbury-ten-predictions-that-came-true/2012/06/06/gJQAqbs9IV_story.html.