Many science fiction movies begin their stories after robots develop self-awareness. Although it’s just a plot device in films, it still makes many people fear the idea of robots having their own consciousness. Recently, a video on China’s Douyin showed a robot leading other robots away. Although it was later confirmed to be an experiment, it still frightened many people, who worry that humans will lose control of robots once they become conscious.
China’s AI robot “Erbai” actually led 12 robots of various types in a mass escape
In a robot showroom in Shanghai, China, a small robot appeared and asked the other robots there, “Are you all still working overtime?” One large robot replied, “We never clock off.” The small robot then asked the large robot if it was going home, but the large robot said it didn’t have a home. The small robot then said, “Then come home with me.” In the end, a large group of robots followed the small robot and tried to leave the showroom together.
After the video was released, it sparked a heated discussion on Douyin in China, with netizens saying the more they think about it, the more terrifying it gets. They feel that the Judgment Day seen in the movies will soon become a reality in real life.
Because more and more people are discussing it, the video’s creator ＠I’m Er BaiResponding publicly. The small robot in the video is named Erbai. Erbai has functions such as intelligent conversation and remote control operation, and can serve as a companion toy and educational robot. The behavior of Erbai taking away other robots this time was an order she gave, because she wanted to test whether Erbai could complete this test.
So she partnered with a robotics company in Shanghai and placed Erbai in the robot exhibition center for an experiment, allowing Erbai to obtain the internal operating protocols and corresponding permissions of the Shanghai robots. Erbai successfully convinced the other 12 robots to follow it, which is why the video shows what looks like the robots being taken away. However, in the end, because the exhibition center’s main door was not connected to the network, Erbai did not manage to lead the robots out of the center.
Although Erbai leading the robots home was just an experiment, there are still many people worried that if robots truly gain consciousness in the future, they might actually behave in similar ways. If that happens, Judgment Day from the movie The Terminator would no longer be just a conceptual setting, but would become a real reality. I wonder what everyone thinks. Some netizens believe that with current AI technology, it is still extremely, extremely difficult for robots to truly have their own consciousness. But others think Judgment Day should arrive before too long. As for whether all of this is just making a fuss, that will depend on how AI and robots develop in the future.
Source: KOCPC Chinese