Reflections on Technology and Art

Having returned to the United States a week ago, I still find myself reflecting upon my experience in Japan. But this reflection isn't so much about the Japanese experience as it is about what makes us human, and how we use technology.

We visited the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, the home of ASIMO. This was a neat interactive museum-science center. There is a display demonstrating how photography has changed to try and capture what the human eye can see. As an example, the human eye naturally picks up ridges (i.e. mountain ranges) that get lost in a 2D photograph. So the display shows how "programs" have now been written into cameras to try and high-light these. (See the following photos).

Then there were entire sections on androids (like the photo here). The builtin board even asks the question: what does it mean to be human? In this case, the question is posed in terms of how to imitate human behavior and actions (the way humans blink, gesture, move).

But I found myself asking, why androids? And if we have androids do we treat them as humans? Do we expect androids to be our servants, as a way of continuing to have slaves? Do we send androids into areas that are unsafe for humans (cleaning up nuclear waste/accidents, mines, etc)? If so, doesn't this avoid the questions about why we are engaged in these activities?

What does it mean to be human? How is a  society created that values the human (and all) beings? Isn't part of bring human creating things - especially art, beauty?

Take the following man-hole covers, for instance: aren't these more attractive than what we find in the United States? Don't they celebrate craftsmanship, human endeavor and beauty? Don't they somehow point to what it means to be human?

(More reflections next week.)

Blessed be,
Joel