Prompt: Can robots take care of babies in a nursery? How would this affect their development and how would it compare to human interaction?
Although it would be really helpful for working parents and release more labors from the task of nursery if robots can take care of babies, it is still not a good idea to let robots replace the in charge humans.
Fist of all, each baby is unique. Therefore, it’s extremely hard to design universal programs of robots, which cover possible responses of all babies. Customized robots, however, will cost much more than hiring a real human to take of the baby.
Second, once designed, robots generally cannot react effectively to unpredicted accidents. There are so many uncertainties on babies’ behaviors and it could be really dangerous if the robots fail to protect babies from potential injuries. Even if the robots are intelligent enough to “learn” new skills and “adapt” to different conditions while interacting, it’s still too risky to let the robot “learn” how to take of the a baby by itself during the process of nursery.
Last but not least, robots, unlike human beings, have no emotions or empathy. When interacting with robots, babies can hardly feel being loved or being cared about. Even if taking care of babies is really time-consuming and painstaking, it is necessary and significant to establish a bond between the parent and the baby and instill a caring personality of the baby by spending time together. Babies raised by robots, however, will lose such bond and vital characteristics. Therefore, they may grow up as indifferent, cruel and inhuman adults, which could be really harmful for both themselves and the whole society.
--Jiaqi Liu
Fist of all, each baby is unique. Therefore, it’s extremely hard to design universal programs of robots, which cover possible responses of all babies. Customized robots, however, will cost much more than hiring a real human to take of the baby.
Second, once designed, robots generally cannot react effectively to unpredicted accidents. There are so many uncertainties on babies’ behaviors and it could be really dangerous if the robots fail to protect babies from potential injuries. Even if the robots are intelligent enough to “learn” new skills and “adapt” to different conditions while interacting, it’s still too risky to let the robot “learn” how to take of the a baby by itself during the process of nursery.
Last but not least, robots, unlike human beings, have no emotions or empathy. When interacting with robots, babies can hardly feel being loved or being cared about. Even if taking care of babies is really time-consuming and painstaking, it is necessary and significant to establish a bond between the parent and the baby and instill a caring personality of the baby by spending time together. Babies raised by robots, however, will lose such bond and vital characteristics. Therefore, they may grow up as indifferent, cruel and inhuman adults, which could be really harmful for both themselves and the whole society.
--Jiaqi Liu
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