• Question: will robots have any emotions and feelings

    Asked by mastermind1 to Anna, Jane, Iain, Nick on 19 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Anna Middleton

      Anna Middleton answered on 19 Mar 2014:

      Hi mastermind1
      No, I don’t think they can have the same emotions that we have as there is so much about the brain that we don’t understand (and therefore can’t programme into a computer). However what we do understand in terms of facial recognition can be programmed into a computer so that simulated emotions and feelings can be expressed but they won’t be ‘real’ just simulated.

    • Photo: Jane Charlesworth

      Jane Charlesworth answered on 19 Mar 2014:

      The idea that robots or computers can develop human emotions is hotly debated. At the moment, it’s not possible, but some people believe it will be possible in the future to create a truly intelligent machine.

      Machines have been able to simulate emotions and make humans respond emotionally for a while, though. Someone made a computer “therapist” called ELIZA that responded to people’s questions in a way that made them want to tell it all their problems and spent hours talking to the computer!

    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 19 Mar 2014:

      I believe that they will. There is a lot of work at the moment in trying to simulate a brain, all the neurons and connections between them. With the exponential rate at which computers are becoming more powerful, I think it is entirely possible that, at some point in the future, robots will have all the mental capacities as humans.

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