Kenna Keller: Intermission 6 - Story 6

- Larger contexts for me throughout this chapter actually play into the presentation I am planning to give. Yamamoto delves into humanity versus technology and part of that, at least for me, is the sensation of emotion. The story centers around this robot that can only be described as 'sweet', a trope we are by no means used to seeing. Shion isn't under any false pretenses, however. She is well aware that she is a robot, which brings up many questions about 'souls'. I am under the impression that all things have a soul, living or nonliving. I believe it is particularly narcissistic  for humans to assert that they are above all other beings and are the only ones privy to a soul. Furthermore, we are bound by human language and understanding, so why would we think we are intelligent enough to even comprehend the weight of another being's soul or experience?

- This particular chapter reminded me of an article I plan on utilizing in my presentation (https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609074/how-we-feel-about-robots-that-feel/). It details the emotions elicited when we, as humans, are faced with robots that 'feel'. The entire premise is that this technology reminds us of humans, a theme present throughout multiple stories and intermissions. It also stirs up some questions for me - i.e. why are some humans more in tune with these feelings than others? We have watched videos in class detailing robots that appear to act like dogs, which elicited positive emotions for me. There are, however, people who don't have these feelings toward dogs themselves. What will it take to give robots 'rights'? I personally do not think this is possible in terms of humans simply giving them over. I think that the only way this could ever really happen is if robots imposed rights for themselves, overriding the compulsive need for control we, as humans, have.

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