Posted on 09/16/2013 7:43:17 AM PDT by BenLurkin
In the centuries-old best friendship between dogkind and humankind, humans are apparently easily replaced with robots. Seemingly loyal canines are totally willing to interact with cold, hard machines, according to a new study in Animal Cognition, gazing lovingly at their robot faces and finding hidden foodstuffs that the robot pointed to.....
The study investigated whether or not dogs would be willing to interact with an unfamiliar robot. It found that the dogs would interact with a cyborg--if the robot seemed like a social being, as evidence by its ability to talk to the dog and its owner.
(Excerpt) Read more at popsci.com ...
I looked at their moving about ‘pointing’ by the robot...seems to me the only ‘control’ and suggestion/approval way by the human handler in the room.
I do not see how you could draw a conclusion about robot/animal interaction by this.
If the robot has a built-in food dispenser, then canine affection is guaranteed. And feline, let’s be fair.
How much did this study cost?
The control was the human’s?
Well this is a sad face of today’s infatuation with things science. Advocates trump up the technology or the capability because they — we — want to believe in it. And it’s the same lead balloon as globull warmism.
From what I saw, the human handler (with the dog looking at the robot do stuff) was the one that gave the final ‘go-ahead’ to react. whasup widat?
I have no idea but I’ll bet it was at a Cadillac price.
Yes, a cat treat dispenser would get lots of cat affection.
Yeah, at best it would be a demo of what happens if the robot had logic that was as perceptive as the dog handler’s was. And the result is that the dog would still vastly prefer the human. Well dogs are man’s best friend. They aren’t robots’.
They did. Cat's simply urinated on the robot and/or started knocking it around a bit.
Then they started asking where their human slave was. (sounded strangely like a 'meow')
Put some tits on the thing, and I’ll interact with it.
Well they very well might socialize with a food dispenser but no way would they love a robots companionship the way they do with mankind. Dogs love us.
In the book that I’m reading, she says it isn’t fair to the animals to put human emotions on them. And it is a training book. She is one of the best animal behaviorists around.
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