Apparently, many people watching a video of the We, Robots wrongly thought that the black and white robot-looking attendees at the party were actually robots.
As and others report, they were just mechanical devices operated by people in another room.
If you are reading this, it may have been obvious to you at a glance that they weren’t robots but should actors demonstrating the concept.
But did it occur to you that many (perhaps most) other viewers actually thought they were autonomous real robots?
What happens when people confuse a concept demo for a proof of capability?
Do they overvalue the wrong stock?
Have the wrong hopes?
Or wrong fears?
Or simply make the wrong plans?
At We, Robots, there are impressive demonstrations of fully autonomous vehicles. They are running in a perfectly controlled environment. Do many of the viewers get an unrealistic impression of what is and is not currently safe or even possible in the real world?
What responsibility of care do we have in general in such public displays?
Is a higher level of care appropriate around topics like Artificial Intelligence?
