Humans and Robots Heading Towards Personal and Intimate Relationships in the Future

source: www.flickr.com
Life like robot being developed in Japan. It can speak, blink, and appears to breathe. It is being powered by an air compressor


Research and development in the field of robotics has been going on for decades now. The latest generation of high-tech robots that are being developed are almost human like in appearance. They can speak, blink and even breathe now. This is making these robots very appealing to people, as to some now they are more than just a piece of metal. By giving them a physically attractive look the developers are replacing the non-responsive life size dolls of the previous years. Due to this there is a strong possibility that a relationships might form between humans and robots. An artificial intelligence researcher David Levy did a study on this and has a strong belief that by the next 50 years, humans will be able to marry robots. A robot by that time will also be able to take the place of a normal human being in an intimate relationship. According to the Levy, the reasons for falling in love or being interested in a person have been studied in depth by psychologists and the results from these studies can be easily programmed into the robot to make it compatible for the its user or owner.

Although there might be advantages of such kinds of artificial intelligence to humans in having a relationship with them, there are also a number of things that make them not as human as they seem to be. One of the most important things is that whatever they say or do has already been programmed by some other human in order to please the user. So the robot is not itself in fact responsible for any of its actions or comments. It also does not have any feelings, so even if it confesses its pre-programmed love for somebody it does not have a feeling for the emotion. Neither can it feel the importance of it to a human. In reality then if you think about it, a relationship with a robot is actually one-sided. The true facts and answers to all questions will unfold in due time and so we can only wait and watch how the development progresses.

Actroid(Humanoid Robot) original model


Latest model of Actroid(Humanoid Robot)


Sources and References:
[1] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21271545/wid/11915829?GT1=10450
[2] www.flickr.com

Liberals Elected to Run Ontario for Another Four Years

source: en.wikipedia.org

On October 10 this year, Ontarians elected the Liberals to run the government in Ontario for four more years. As the early vote counts began coming in, it was clear that the Liberals were clearly headed towards a majority. The liberals secured 71 seats to gain majority in order to form government in Ontario, while the Conservatives got only 26 seats. NDP managed to get only 11 whilst the Green party did not secure a single seat.

According to views expressed by many experts the major reason for Dalton McGuinty’s win was the issue over the funding of the faith based schools. Conservative party leader John Tory had started his campaign with laying a stress on funding of faith based schools if his government was elected. In his opinion along with the current funding of the Catholic schools, other religious schools should also be funded with tax payers’ money. This caused quite a furor among other rival politicians especially Dalton McGuinty, who chose to make it point in his campaigns to talk about this issue and how Mr. Tory’s plan would tend to divide the children according to religions. The general public at large was also mostly against the idea of the funding of faith based schools. Most of the voters thus, chose not to vote for the Conservatives specifically due to this issue.

The Conservatives were stressing on Dalton McGuinty’s broken promises also. Mr. McGuinty had promised when he had been elected previously that he would not raise taxes which he did end up doing though he himself acknowledged this time during his campaign for this recent election. There was also debate about health care and the current situation of the availability of doctors for every person in Ontario. People were generally frustrated about the shortage of doctors in Ontario and the long waiting times in hospitals. Though there were all these issues going against the Liberals which were being publicized by the Conservatives for their campaign, the Liberals in the end did manage to gain a stronghold in the 2007 Ontario elections mainly due to the opposition to faith based schools funding which actually struck a chord with the masses.

Students from a Toronto college interview people on the street about the October Election


Public Awareness message about Onatario's Catholic schools public funding

Sources and References:
[1] http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=34610fe8-fc8c-4451-a160-751be82fbc1f&p=2

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Percentage of Unmarried People on the Rise ?

source: www.gettyimages.com

According to the 2006 census done by Statistics Canada, there are more unmarried people than married ones in the country. Though the statistics were compiled from last year, the decline in traditional marriages has been on the decline since years. Although these statistics were for Canada only, this trend can be seen in other western societies too.

There are a number of factors that contribute to the decision of people who choose to remain unmarried. Over the years, the education period has lengthened and more and more women have chosen to get a better education to the highest level possible or that they can afford. Focusing on education and afterwards on their careers or employment opportunities, women have delayed their marriages. Also with the increasing costs of living standards that have been steadily going up since years, the individuals have to keep in mind the costs associated with having and raising children if they want to start a family. There are also personal reasons like the freedom associated with living a single life without anyone else’s burdens and responsibilities and having a social life. There is also another major factor that plays a part, and that is the uncertainty of a happy stable married life that should last forever. Divorce rates have been high and more people consider not marrying in case it does not work out later on. Common law partners have also been accepted by society and so they are not afraid from being frowned upon even if they are not married. They might the same responsibilities as married couples or maybe less. There is also a question of whether married people are happier than unmarried people. In a recent study by researchers, they found married people tend to be more healthier and successful than unmarried ones, though happiness did not depend much on being married. These days a lot of people who choose to be unmarried especially women, are happy with their decision and their life. Happiness depends on a person’s personality and what ‘they’ consider as providing happiness to them, and not on being married or unmarried.

source: www.cartoonstock.com

Sources and References:

[1] http://www.gettyimages.com/Home.aspx

[2] http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2007/09/091607_7.html

[3] http://www.forbes.com/singles/2006/07/25/singles-marriage-money-cx_tvr_06singles_0725costs.html

[4] http://www.apa.org/releases/married_happy.html

[5] http://www.cartoonstock.com

Canada Signs a New Emissions Pact After Failing to Meet Kyoto's Targets

source: artizans.com

Prime Minister recently announced that Canada is going to sign onto an emissions pact, Asia-Pacific Partnership. This announcement came a United Nations session held recently in New York, the main purpose of which was to extend the Kyoto Protocol which is due to expire in 2012. Mr. Harper has never mentioned Kyoto in any of his speeches regarding emissions. This new emissions pact’s targets are not binding upon the members of the partnership, perhaps one of the main reasons why the Prime Minister decided to join it. Some of the other countries to join this new partnership like U.S. and Australia have not signed Kyoto. According to some experts this partnership is anti-Kyoto.

Although Canada has ratified to have signed the Kyoto Protocol, Mr. Harper has never considered it binding enough to achieve the goals set out under Kyoto shrugging it off as unrealistic and not achievable in the near future. Under the Kyoto requirements to cut the emissions, Canada has failed to do so and currently the emissions are 30 percent over the level Canada is required to have met by 2012. Due to the fact that Canada has not been able to lower its emissions and instead has seen a sharp rise, Mr. Harper has decided to sign the rival pact in order to show the world that it he intends to set goals that are realistic only in his government’s view. An important thing worth mentioning is that none of the European countries, who are one of the strongest supporters of Kyoto, have signed this new partnership. Mr. Harper also fails to realize that the developed countries are responsible for setting a model for the developing countries. If the developed countries like Canada are not able to cut their emissions and adhere to the Kyoto Protocol and instead find mere excuses to join another pact, there is not much one can expect from the developing nations in cutting their own emissions.

Canada Joins New Partnership to Fight Global Warming


Canadian Environmental Activist David Suzuki on Kyoto and Canada's Role


Sources and References:
[1] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070925.wharper25/BNStory/National/home?cid=al_gam_mostview
[2] http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/kyoto/asia-pacific-partnership.html
[3] http://artizans.com/