Robot Maker

Eleven years ago Dolly, the first cloned mammal, came into the world. When her "birth" was announced, the public responded with strongly-opinionated, often controversial comments. Researchers, theologists and even mundane community members became outspoken and hysterical over the issue of genetic research and manipulation. People posed serious, big-impact questions about what this research development would bring to the future.

Since that time, the drama surrounding cloning has died down. Occasionally an article will be presented or TV news will report an update, but the excitement has gone. People are focused on other issues; cloning is no longer a threat to most. After reading CNN's article, "Robot Maker with a Penchant for Realism Builds Artificial Boy" (http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/biztech/09/13/robotboy.ap/index.html) I wonder if soon we will have similar debates and social divisions based on the role of robots in our society. The article introduced the boy robot, Xenos, (which interestingly enough is also the name of the robot engineer's real son) as an interactive learning system for children. The difference between this and other interactive learning systems is that Xenos looks like a real person; he even has skin-like material covering his body. The article juxtaposed the reality of this robot in the engineer's life by describing and commenting on both Xenos the Robot and Xenos the real boy. As research developments like this continue, we wonder what the role of robots in our human society will become.

The issue of robotics, although at times controversial, is much different than cloning. Research in the field of artificial intelligence is emerging because it can heighten the quality of life. It takes us further than we have gone before in providing information to the world. However, with these great advancements in technology we must also keep in mind the perspective of this life. Robots can enhance life and learning, but they cannot take the place of people. We must focus on the most important things, the ones that last: our values, our relationships, our families--the real Xenoses in our lives rather than just the metallic ones.