Poll: Could Robots Ever Imagine?

[Zeraki]

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those ... moments will be lost in time, like tears...in rain.
Time to die."

-Roy Batty, Blade Runner

Eventually, I think A.I. could get sophisticated enough for robots to be able to dream, and have imaginations. Or we could just wind up with the Geth... that would suck, and be awesome at the same time.

 

[Olas]

Is it possible? Perhaps. Will one ever exist? I doubt it.

The way I see it, the mechanical nature of computers and technology is so fundamentally far removed from how the actual human brain acts that we're really no closer to realizing such a "robot" than we were 200 years ago with the earliest analytical engines.
Creating something that can even be compared to an actual brain will require a total revolution in the field of AI, perhaps multiple revolutions. By the end this "brain" technology won't even operate in a manner recognizable to modern day logitians.

And even then it'll still be a glaring mystery as to whether or not what we've built is truly grasping anything or not.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Future?!
Isn't that how 80% of Stephen King books are written?

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

I guess if the human brain can do it, then it must be able to be replicated eventually.

Though the issue has been so much discussed in fiction that by the time its possible. I wonder if people will actually let it happen.

 

[Wintermoot]

if a AI can imagine a robot to.
then again assuming they work on per-programmed parameters (for example if a robot makes a cake out of itself he would do that because his owners like that not out of free will)
but I doubt it AI is a very complex computer program and computer programs are designed to process per-enterd data not make new data. A AI can learn and use it but not come up with new completely original ideas like a human can.

on he flip side considering your brain is a bunch of neurons a robot might be able to have a conscious/imagine by running a brain emulation.

 

[FalloutJack]

one day, in the far far future, robots will be independant from us, they will be able to carry out tasks without the need to be asked, but will they ever be as intellegent as we are? will they ever become so sophisticated, they can dream and imagine on their own? discuss away

I'm of the opinion that even if we get that good, we as humans will still do things the human way, and so the robots will not dream as we dream. If they imagine anything at all, it is the imagination of being idle and waiting when we are not asking them to do something, which is to say that sleep mode for a computer is to consider nothing, and do it quite well.

 

[Brandon237]

If you got to the point with robotic technology where you could add a totally random, somewhat unique element (small, imperfect crystals that do some of the personality and perception controlling maybe?) to the machine, then yes, I think that you could very well create a being capable of almost any definition of imagination.

 

[FolkLikePanda]

If they can find a formula from examining the human brain and the chemical processes that occur when imagination happens and recreate via computer then yeah, probably, I dunno, cornish pasty.

 

[Korolev]

Sure they will, when the technology has advanced enough. The brain is essentially a biological computer - it's made up of neurons and those neurons are made up the same atoms that everything else in the universe is made of. All our thought processes are chemical/electrical signals and reactions. Consciousness is nothing but a product of those reactions - billions upon billions of reactions and signals and synapses which we can't currently duplicate with our technology.

But just as they said humans would never be able to fly, I'm sure those who say we'll never create True AI are wrong as well. We will one day - once our nanotechnology and materials science has progressed to a certain point where we can make artificial synapses and neurons which isn't too far off.

Science is getting very good a understanding even the most complex functions of the brain - we can even tell what words you are thinking by analyzing an MRI image of your brain. We can actually start to piece together mental images using similar techniques as well - see for yourself:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16811042
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110922121407.htm

It's not perfect technology yet - but as MRI and other similar scanning technology improves, we will be able to see into the very deepest thought processes of the mind. And once we can do that (and we will one day), we will be able to begin replicating those processes using mechanical or nanotech-based artificial neurons and synapses.

And once we can do that, robots will be able to think and imagine as well as (or even better) than we can.

Our brains are made up of atoms. Computers are also made of atoms. Once we know how to manipulate those atoms and molecules in the correct way, and organize them correctly, we will be able to build real AI in the lab. It's coming - probably within my life time. I'll tentatively suggest they'll have real A.I by 2060.

 

[interspark]

here's a thought, it's perfectly feasible for a robot to calculate possible scenraios right? well if a robot was to dwell on more positive scenarios then could we not class that as imagination?