Robot Frankenstein
A sci-fi cautionary tale about technology abuse.
I am sure readers have heard of Mary Shelley’s iconic sci-fi story Frankenstein, and while it is outlandish, it does inspire some interesting questions. Imagine we design robots that are meant to help us, but a hacker learns how to implant a virus into the system much like in certain sci-fi films.
In such a scenario, the instructions given to the robot may become scrambled. We may then end up with a robot Frankenstein on our hands. This is a cautionary tale to say that sometimes ideas are a dangerous thing, especially if they have real-world application.
It is one thing to write sci-fi fantasy books involving technology, it is another thing entirely to make such technology in the real world.
My robot Frankenstein scenario could have application in warfare, if we have drones fighting instead of people we may have the problem of enemy hackers gaining control of our weapons. I am not sure how many people have thought about this, but I do think that it is worth thinking about.
Liked it
Reply From Wesley Anderson (South Africa)
I do not agree with your statement, unfortunately, mainly because Mary Shelley’s scientist Victor Frankenstein created a being (it is not named in the novel) that develops it’s own consciousness. As you have hopefully read the text, I am sure you would agree that the example is not entirely accurate to your purpose.
The thought of robot warriors would fall under a different sphere of science-fiction, perhaps drawing on a more ‘Prometheus’ based area – Just to contextualise, Prometheus is found in Greek mythology having crafted humans out of clay and subsequently giving them fire, which was the power of the gods. This is again, obviously not the same, but if AI is approaching the level of near self-consciousness, it is We who are the Victor Frankenstein’s and Prometheus’s of our age.
Because a hacking or virus program is simply control Over another being, it’s not the progression that is seen in the creation in Shelley’s novel. Just wanted to make awfully clear that your argument shouldn’t include her in this
She may have been a sci-fi writer, but she is not always usable for any sci-fi idea.
Kind Regards,
Wesley Anderson
(University of Cape Town)
Dear Wesley,
Thank you for your comments. Perhaps some clarification is needed for you to understand why I mentioned Shelley.
Humanity has a tendancy to mess with things we ought not to, whether it be (real life) robotic warfare or (fictional) creating monsters such as that created by Victor Frankenstein.
ANY time man tries to play God, we run the risk of our creations running amok, that was the point.