Poll: Can an android be human?

[sirdanrhodes]

Terminator Salvation?

try posting a good movie next time. please.

You know what I meant...

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Its not so much android but AI, the mind of a creature can be human,sub human(which seems to be the range for most of humanity IE thinking bad,shiny pretty,I busy no need to vote,think,change also demonic could fit in this category) or some logical entity AI/alien,ect.

As AI develops it could develop 'feelings' via illogical processing refinement of it leads to more refine human range thought processing, in time AI can be place in bodies be they bio, metal and wire or a combination so becoming 'human' is a likely possibility in time since humans can be anything emotion/logic/feeling wise.

 

[Whiskyjakk]

but isn't most of our psychology brought about through pre-programming of the nature around us? We take in our surroundings and we learn how to act accordingly - computers are grasping this skill more efficiently every day.

I think in the future (not near) our definition of self and machine will become blurred indeed,

Battlestar Galactica anyone?

Our definitions of self and machine, natural or unnatural are already extremely blurred. Try reading 'Out of Control: the rise of neo-biological civilization' by Kevin Kelly or pretty much anything on the philosophy of mind by any philosopher since Aristotle who isn't hardline dualist or hardline materialist.

I think we could develop an android that replicates functionally the thinking of a human mind (of course that wouldn't make it a genuine human but then by definition an android isn't a human). We simply need to discover the function of every physical component of the human brain and replace them with artificial components. Unless you argue that there is something 'special' about the human brain which makes it impossible to replicate this is a conceivable possibility.

 

[The Maddest March Hare]

If it's an android it can never be human as in "Homo Sapiens", so I voted no..

However, I think if our AI technology keeps developing, it could become a 'person', with real emotions, memories, thoughts and decisions made with its own judgement, but never become 'human'.

 

[Tharwen]

I personally think that it is impossible because so much of our personalities is based on what our bodies are telling us, so, since and android has a different body, it would be impossible for one to think like us as it has different stimuli. Thus the only way for one to be 'human' is for it to be made with an entirely human body, apart from its brain, which would have to be a human brain for it to process thoughts like us anyway, so you would, in fact, simply be genetically engineering a human.

Does that make sense?

It'd be an intelligent 'lifeform', as in it thinks and acts for itself. But it's not human, as a human is a species:
Wiki time: "A human is a member of a species of bipedal primates in the family Hominidae"

The question posed in the OP is not 'Could an android ever be a human?'; it's 'Could an android ever have human mental characteristics and/or humanity?'

 

[teisjm]

As long as they're machines then no, but i wouldn't be suprised if the scientists managed to make artificial biological humans some day.

I guess i would say that if they were able to reproduce with humans then yes, they would be humans.

 

[PatientGrasshopper]

Can artificial intelligence ever be human? And I mean, proper Asimovesque intelligence, not a microwave.

I don't think so, I mean we could make synthetic organs in the future I bet but they could never be truly human. I think we can get them to think like us but it will never truly be human. However, ever heard of Bicentennial Man? It was about an android who essentially became human.
This could open up a whole nother can of worms but it is like the question, can humans become God? I vote no on that one.

 

[joystickjunki3]

Human? No. Sentient? Hell yes.

I think that one day robots/androids/gynoids will be able to act in an individual fashion based on logic that has either evolved or was programmed by us. But will they be human? I don't think so, because we're human (organic) and possibly in the future clones will be human, but androids and the like are mechanical or bio-mechanical.

 

[Ace of Spades]

If they ever make the real version of Harkness, then I will vote yes.

 

[DigitalSushi]

I voted no.
It's a machine, therefore it is not human. simple as that.

yes but only by human language can you actually say that is it not human, what is human exactly?

You can't answer the OP's question because different people and animal's have completly different views as to what human is, take a dog for exactly, well trained under the tutelage of a human... a human tells the dog to sit and the dog sits.

Make a robot that says "sit" and the dog sits, once again to the animal kingdom for all intents and purposes thinks that robot is the alpha male, we merely surplant that dominance on ourselves cos we are big heads innit.

being able to get a dog to sit, does it make it human? because a robot has recreated a human exercise?.

we make houses, beavers create dam's, beavers knew more about the structural intergraty of buildings in rushing water then we knew about at the start of the 19th century, does that make them more human at the time?.

Anyway, what is the definition of "human"?, acting like a prick on an internet forum?. I'd prefer to be a robot.

 

[Dirty Apple]

Can't be human, could reach a level of intellect where it would be unjust not to give it human rights

Hear, Hear, my good man! The OP's original statement is flawed. An artificial intelligence could never be human and vice versa, BUT, I believe technology will reach a level where an artificial intelligence could achieve sentience. At which point, it would be morally reprehensible to not treat it as a peer.

 

[murphy7801]

um you really failed the point hear that humans are biological machines the defination of human has to be defined either in terms of dna or mental state. more worrying soon be able to copy peoples brains into pcs so think more definition humanity is the real question ?

 

[mdk31]

A human, by definition, is an animal of the species homo sapiens. An android would be a machine, no matter how much it looked and acted human. It would not be human.

 

[murphy7801]

go read do androids dream of electric sheep people on this thread it might go colour your perspective

 

[fenrizz]

I voted no.
It's a machine, therefore it is not human. simple as that.

yes but only by human language can you actually say that is it not human, what is human exactly?

You can't answer the OP's question because different people and animal's have completly different views as to what human is, take a dog for exactly, well trained under the tutelage of a human... a human tells the dog to sit and the dog sits.

Make a robot that says "sit" and the dog sits, once again to the animal kingdom for all intents and purposes thinks that robot is the alpha male, we merely surplant that dominance on ourselves cos we are big heads innit.

being able to get a dog to sit, does it make it human? because a robot has recreated a human exercise?.

we make houses, beavers create dam's, beavers knew more about the structural intergraty of buildings in rushing water then we knew about at the start of the 19th century, does that make them more human at the time?.

Anyway, what is the definition of "human"?, acting like a prick on an internet forum?. I'd prefer to be a robot.

Sorry if I have offended you. I certainly did not intend to come off as a prick.

I voted no.
It's a machine, therefore it is not human. simple as that.

*Hands Fenrizz the entire series of Battlestar Galactica* Watch that please, seriously, it will redefine your concepts of what it means to be human and machine. Frakkin' toasters...

Put it this way: aren't humans just organic machines? We function in similar ways, we both need fuel, we both break down, etc. If we were to get over the uncanny valley and create a robot that was impossible to tell apart from humans, while at the same time being able to have complex, emotional thought, how would it be any different then one of us?

you make a good point.
The only thing I can think of, is that humans (in general) are able to reproduce naturally.
I've never seen a show/movie with androids that are capable of human emotion though, so it's kind of foreign to me.
I might just take a look at Battlestar Galactica. I've been meaning too, but alas, I spend too much time doing nothing.

 

[flare09]

That is highly illogical, captain.

 

[Zorg Machine]

an android is MADE by humans. Therefore no.

btw humans are also "made" by humans and so are clones and we consider a cloned cow a cow right?

anyways all human feelings, thoughts and personalities are simple electronic signals and things we have learned (the reason why humans smile to express happiness is because as babies we smile at some point while exercising facial muscles and do it more often when we get extra attention from parents because of it). can computers learn? yes, there are computers that can learn (though they are at a very primitive level) can computers transmit electric signals? yes, thats what they do. computers are essentially a brain. a primitive brain wholly different from human minds but still a brain in many senses.

as long as we manage to give a free will, pain and emotions (all theoretically possible) to androids they would be, in every sense of the word, human.

btw there is already a law in place to protect said androids from slavery.

 

[wordsmith]

I hope not, because if they can be then we're all buggered.

 

[ZeroMachine]

No. It could become as intelligent as a human. Have a personality like one. But if an android was to become a human, it wouldn't be an android... it would be a human. Dur.