I think my post about robots misportrays the role of robots in our current time. Maybe it is better to say robots have remained popular, but robots in the 1950s tended toward machine behavior, while robots now tend towards human behavior. This is probably due to the advancement in computer technology, and the belief that we are approaching AI (or some would even say the singularity, when computers will overtake humans!!!!)

I think technology critics like Evegeny Morozov and Jaron Lanier make important (albiet not always correct) points about the dark sides of technology. I do worry that dependence on technology is curtailing the human ability to daydream and imagine, which in turn will stifle science and prevent us from ever developing AI robots.

I still prefer 1950s robots that are souped up computers to AI. What if the AI is unreasonable? So many people are unreasonable. They are swayed by poor arguments, shiny displays in stores, and appeals to authority. I think until we master philosophy and the ability to teach critical thinking, there is no hope of teaching computers something that we cannot teach ourselves.