In her book Alone Together, Sherry Turkle discusses the emergence of “robots” and how this event effects people with access to these robots. She begins her analysis by focusing on the effects of Tamagotchis and Furbies on children. Turkle plays with the idea that these first forms of robots have been impacting the way people experience relationships with other people, by modifying the expectations that people have of one another. Her study on children brings forth the idea that these types of relationships are causing children to be rooted with indifference toward the other — there is a lack of empathy. She suggests that this emphasizes the narcissistic age of the Internet by further implementing a sense of self without the other.
Though I am open to the opinions she has derived from her analysis — which is quite extensive — I find myself questioning just how much of an impact these robots could have on people’s ability to maintain empathetic relationships. Children have been seeking relationships from the inanimate long before the robot came to the stage. Before Tamagotchis and Furbies, it was Barbies and action figures — which, unlike the robots, actually embody human appearances. Young girls projected themselves onto their Barbies by dressing them the way they wanted to dress, and by creating experiences they wanted to experience. Young boys had similar behaviours with their action figures. Is this not the definition of narcissism? In these relationships, are children not just using their toys for one-sided, undemanding, and temporary companionship?
Taking this into consideration, it is questionable whether or not there is actually something to fear for today’s children. Adults and seniors who are seeking out relationships with robots due to their inability to form relationships with other people are not doing so because their ability to form relationships has been damaged by the onset of robots. The robotic toys used in Turkle’s did not exist at the time of their childhood, and yet, they still developed with this lack of empathy, this narcissistic urge. So, are relationships really that different in light of the robotic moment? There are a number of obvious differences, which Turkle does address; however, the core of these relationships, the things that people are actually seeking from them, they are not so different. I believe the majority of people will continue to seek human relationships despite the robotic moment; though there will always be the few who are simply born different.
Sources:
Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. 2011. Basic Books: NY
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