Saturday, October 22, 2005

It's time to brush up on your Isaac Asimov, your Philip K. Dick, and your basic humanities, Ladies and Gentlemen.
You're gonna need them, although not, thankfully, for a few more years. Or so it seems. Visitors at the 2005 World Expo in Japan were dazzled by Repliee Q1, who looks and acts remarkably human. Although they do not mention if she is "fully functional," I imagine it's not long before Hiroshi Ishiguru begins collaborative work with the guys from RealDolls. How wierd is it to order a personalized, ie custom built and designed woman? Well, try it for yourself. Add in personality traits, and it may become de riguer in a short time (And ladies, don't think that robot men won't be available as well). Think about it... marriage may become a rarer and rarer phenomenon. You can have a non-aging, update-able, housecleaning, home-security, baby-sitter, super-high performing (in and out of the bedroom) mate, partner, whatever... android robot of your very own.

In the meantime, how about you programmers working with some psychologists and educational researchers to develop that Voight-Kampf test?

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