Could first contact be made with robots ?

[UM-Bot]

Some scientists believe that the first extraterrestrials we encounter could be robotic in nature.

As technological advancement continues to outpace biological evolution our civilization may be heading in a direction that could see sentient machines overtaking biological humans as the dominant form of life on our planet.

Read More: http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/275589/could-first-contact-be-made-with-robots

[bubblykiss]

From the story;

AI researchers are doing quite well and most people in computer science think we are 50 years away from AI that is smarter than us.

*******

You lock access to McDonalds behind beating Battle Chess beginner level and....most patrons would starve to death before beating the machine.

Just saying.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Captain Kirk made First Contact with a couple of robots, if you know what I mean.

[bubblykiss]

Captain Kirk made First Contact with a couple of robots, if you know what I mean.

Depends.

You got grainy photos you can sell me behind the local 7-11 for a reasonable price?

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Depends.

You got grainy photos you can sell me behind the local 7-11 for a reasonable price?

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Andrea

There you go, one for free.

[Growl]

a thinking machine never exist as we understand it.

Should be alive.

A computer only has three fundamental axes, space, time and energy.

A living being possesses: space, time, energy and a fourth axis, which we call consciousness (axis of life).

A computer, conceptually as we call it, will come in a few centuries to be able to calculate the behavior, location of every single subatomic particle in the universe, but it will never be able to create a work of art or have feelings and emotions, because it does not have the axis of consciousness ... is dead.

The axis of consciousness is that parameter that if it were understood and accepted by scientists, would make it much more clear the result and the behavior of many physics experiments today are not understood.

[Sundew]

Whether or not a machine will ever gain sentience is still the realm of science fiction. But that said, they do make logical sense as devices for exploration. When man goes into space, we need large quantities of breathable atmosphere, water, food, sleeping and living area, we create biological waste and we are prone to degenerative disease in space. Then there is radiation, extremes of temperature and pressure, and a whole host of psychological problems from isolation and confinement. Robots have no emotions, no feelings, they need little or none of the things that biological organisms require; they are just (at this stage) programable tools. When we as humans or some postulated alien civilization goes into space exploring, it only makes sense to use robotics, and that is in fact what we have done for the most part. We have seen robotic, if not completely autonomous, landers, rovers and explorers all over the Solar System and much of what we know of the outer planets is a direct result of this technology.

I believe that as we get better at nano-tech we can send ever smaller and lighter robots to more and more exotic localities. Instead of sending one vehicle into space at a time, imagine sending several thousand mini-robots at once, say to land on all the largest asteroids between Mars and Jupiter and check mineral content and so forth.

The final step in robot exploration would be to make self replicating machines, that land, use the environment to make copies of themselves and then launch yet further into space. We are already working on machines that self-heal and perhaps one day we will have machines capable of copying themselves, all the while sending data back to earth.

There are many things robots cannot do as exploration devices, they do not have man's innate curiosity. A human might see a "neat" rock on Mars and go over and pick it up and have a look, a robot can only do what it is programed to do, or controlled remotely from Earth and might easliy miss something because of its limitations. But given the dangers of space, robots are still our best choice at our level of technology and perhaps always will be.

[seeder]

Well 'we' already send robots into space, admittedly quite simple ones. It makes sense for us to do it, Im sure itd make just as much sense to any far flung aliens. Dont forget we have a robot already on the space station. japan is planning to send a humanoid robot to the moon too!

Bipedal Japanese Robot Will Walk on the Moon by 2015

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-04/japanese-robot-will-walk-moon-2015

My fave robot, ASIMO, for example, can do an awful lot of stuff like a human can

[+OverSword]

More like first contact, assuming it will ever be made, will be two machines, one of ours and one of theirs.

Edited December 9, 2014 by OverSword

[kartikg]

More like first contact, assuming it will ever be made, will be two machines, one of ours and one of theirs.

They might ignore each other since they are non biological in nature.

[Karasu]

As soon as robots become sophisticated enough to walk around by themselves, with no wires attached, we'll see a whole range of "love dolls".

[seeder]

As soon as robots become sophisticated enough to walk around by themselves, with no wires attached, we'll see a whole range of "love dolls".

The vid I posted shows a robot walking, hopping, running...with no wires attached. And realistic love dolls are already here

Heres one safe for forums

[Karasu]

The vid I posted shows a robot walking, hopping, running...with no wires attached. And realistic love dolls are already here

Heres one safe for forums

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I fear for our children.

[bubblykiss]

I fear for our children.

What children, love dolls will end human reproduction in the first world.

The 3rd world will rise to power only to discover continents filled with sultry love machines roaming the streets.

The Robo-sexuals will have finally won.

[Cruel_Cahal]

This concept was stolen from the X-Files, in an episode titled, "War of the Coprophages" (1996). In the episode, a robotics scientist tells Mulder that people are stupid for thinking that the first visitors to Earth would be aliens themselves. That just like humans, they would send a robotic probe first to scout out the location.

[Erikl]

I would just like to re-post what I've posted in Space Exploration forum few days ago, regarding my "space travel fantasy", which I think is relevant to this thread:

I would love to see giving up the idea of sending biological humans via space in huge barrels that need tons of shielding, can't accelerate too fast, and needs to carry life support and it's own garden to grow food and filter the air (and amusement for the astronauts so they won't become psychotic).

My solution is two-way uploading - upload the mind of the astronaut then send it to a dummy body shaped like a human in the speed of light. While the astronaut's mind is inside the robot, the real, biological astronaut is in sleepless hibernation. When the jobs is done, the mind is being moved out of the robot and sent back to earth or the space station where the biological body is, downloaded, and the astronaut wakes up and remembers all the experience as if he was the one travelling.

I think this solution, given the technology, is the cheapest and most efficient, plus, man still gets to go around the universe, but it is no longer limited to earth's gravity or other issues. Imagine "humans" exploring Pluto in that way, or Venus, for months, without the need for food, water or whatever.

It also breaks the light speed barrier - as if, it enables humans to travel at the speed of light. So travelling around the solar system will be a matter of hours, not decades. These androids can be sent to the target location with small ships and being built on site, or even with nano ships which can themselves be accelerated to close to the speed of light and reach their target location, where they will start building these androids and a reception antenna for the mind uploading-downloading process.

This also opens up the neighboring stars to us, let's say up to 10 light years away max, because by the time the astronaut's mind will return from a mission, it has "only" been 20 years top (10 years one way, 10 years another). Travel time for missions to Alpha Centauri will take less than 9 years back and forth.

I honestly believe, that with major breakthrough in neuroscience in the next 100 years, without having to invent any new science, we might be able to conquer all the solar system, and within 150-200 years, become interstellar that way, travelling at the speed of light.

Future young generations, going on school trips to Space museums and learning about the 20th and 21st centuries, will hear how back then "humans had the crazy idea of sending other humans in these huge, dangerous, slow barrels from point A to B as the only meaningful way of space travels, hindering space explorations for decades".

[DONTEATUS]

First we need to learn how to really Go ,Really Fast !

[Varelse]

More like first contact, assuming it will ever be made, will be two machines, one of ours and one of theirs.

This. I really think IF we have craft visiting us from elsewhere in our universe they're likely sending clones, bots or cyborgs of some fashion that transmit their findings back much like our Mars explorers are doing right now. Space travel may very well be too risky or take too long for typical life forms.