What is the purpose of life? To me, this question is at the core of any philosophical discussion about the potential effects of technology on human life, and this specific issue of robotics. I have my own opinion, incomplete as it is, and at its core is spirituality.
How do we use the time that we might save by being freed from manual labor? What do we want to be as human beings? I see more hatred and cynicism in the world today than I have for much of my life, and lots and lots of ignorance, despite the fact that ‘smart’ phones are ubiquitous and we have the greatest capacity to disseminate information that has ever existed in human history to date. What is progress, exactly? I personally think that progress is measured more meaningfully by the depth of our souls, than by whether or not we have a machine that can work for us. Using that yardstick, sometimes I feel that we are progressing. Sometimes I don’t. I guess it makes it harder to get excited about a robot..
But interesting post nonetheless..
Yes that is a whole pile of interesting questions that a horde of very smart people have tried to answer over thousands of years. This situation however is simpler, and nowhere as deep.
“Work” is likely to end long before anyone even tries to get a handle on your questions. The result is going to be a whole lot of very immediate, very practical questions.
Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop.