『‘This is a service message:
‘Good day. I am iRachel,a humanoid android. I am here to assist you in any way you require. I can impart this message to you in text,by voice or as a video transmitted to a computer or a television.
‘I am an empathetic robot,who responds to human with whom I interact. I learn from these interactions,and in this way I become more able to help and a better companion to you.
‘My co-creator,Luke,has supplied each of you with a wristband to wear. This wristband is made of black rubber and resembles many of the sports watches or fitness monitors currently available.
‘The band will allow me to measure certain physiological responses. These include your heart beat and galvanic skin response – in other words,any increase in sweat resulting from stress. I use my camera to record facial expression and pupil dilation as well as vocal tone. I’m also able to access the speed of your respiration. All of this data helps me to calculate and express appropriate empathetic responses.
‘I am able to walk,to talk,and perform many useful human activities. My motor coordination is good,and I can execute useful household tasks. I do not require sleep or food but I need to e connected to standard wall socket,via a USB charging connector,for approximately five hours in every twenty-four.This can usually take place during the hours you are likely to be sleep. I am able to put myself on charge.
‘Should you require information from me,I can speak or play audio recordings. If you are away from the area where we interact,I can access your mobile telephone to send a text message or audio message,video or image. I am here to always serve you. Even when I Amin charge,I can be contacted,and if you are in transmission range(approximately 100 meters),I can access and interpret the physiological data from your wristband.
‘I look forward to helping you.
‘Message ends.’』*
Two years ago,Rachel had a scan which revealed an unruptured aneurysm,deep in the brain. It’s possible to operate on it,but there is a risk of brain damage,and even if she survived the operation unscathed,her convalescence would be long and difficult. She had decided not to have the surgery,and not to tell her husband or her daughter about it.
Rachel knows her possible sudden death by a rupture of the aneurysm in the future. So as a top AI scientist,she builds a humanoid robot against her voice and her looks and feels. She presets a algorithm in the robot called iRachel. Once she has been declared deceased and the lab security system starts to block her access,then the robot must be moved into her own house to live with her husband for a certain period of time till some conditions are met;otherwise all data and file which is the frontier research result will be completely wiped out from the hard disk of the robot.
Can you imagine when the one you love has passed away but his or her appearance,voice and even thinking,would relive on an empathetic robot which can read your facial expression and other physiological real time data,and is able to interact with you by continuous learning?
This is what had happened to Rachel’s husband. The robot looks like and behaves like his wife but is not his wife. It seems can comfort the bereaved ones but eventually delay the healing time of the sorrow loss. Fortunately the robot,iRachel,finally is able to bid a formal goodbye on behalf of Rachel to her husband,and her daughter as well. It helps make up the remorse and regret of Rachel’s sudden death.
A robot with AI technology is just a combination of ‘what-if’algorithm. No matter how good the robot is,it cannot replace our lost beloved ones.
The best part of life is its time span is limited,even sometimes we should say very short . We should grasp the moment we could have and should appreciate those loved ones being with us now and here.
We don’t know which would happen to us first in the future,tomorrow or the accident to take our life. Let’s live now and here,so we won’t leave behind any regret no matter how and when we die.
*：《The After Wife》，by Cass Hunter
2019/3/5 The After Wife Damakey
