Surrogates

Some days I just don’t want to get up for class...okay, every day. But school is something I am paying for and will help me in the long run, so I drag myself out of bed and cowboy up. But what if…I sent my robot counterpart to class in my stead? It could take my notes and record what the teacher says. It would look just like any other human.

What if I had a surrogate?

Yes, I am referencing the Bruce Willis movie coming out on Friday. The plot of the movie, aptly called “Surrogates”, is that the world is nothing but people sitting in their chairs living through their robots, or surrogates. Then, for the first time in years, someone is murdered in a world where no one worries about pain or crime, since those things are all happening to the robots, which are quick to heal.

I know this sounds like an intriguing plot for a movie, but how far is this from becoming a reality? Of course it is science-fiction, but could this “robot world” ever become a daily occurrence? According to an article on CNN.com, armies are already using remote-controlled robots to destroy land mines and attack enemies. There is also emerging technology for handicapped people that allows them to operate robotic limbs and control computer cursors without using a keyboard. There is also “telepresence” technology that is letting people see, hear, walk, talk, and gesture using human sized robots that are across the world.

To quote from the CNN article: "There are a lot of real-world components to this," said robotics expert and author Daniel H. Wilson, "Clearly, there are not fully functional humanoid robots ... but there are a lot of components to telepresence that already exist."

The director of the “Surrogates” movie, Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3:Rise of the Machines), also shared his thoughts on evolving robotics, “To me, it's not even a question of the technology. Technology always catches up. The question is, is some universal human urge being met by this invention? It seems to me we have a fundamental human desire to be lazy, to sort of not have to do things in person and to do it remotely.”

Indeed, robotics at Anybot, a company founded in 2001 by Trevor Blackwell, already has “anybots” in the development phase that can run, jump and climb stairs, and come with fully articulated hands designed to perform increasingly human-like tasks. The robot even resembles a human. (However, they cost $30,000 right now. Anybot is working on lowering the price).

Blackwell said he's not sure the technology will ever advance to the level imagined in "Surrogates"

Concerning the movie “Surrogates”, Anybot founder Blackwell said, "I don't know if we'll ever get quite to that level, of being that realistic.”

Immediately after seeing a trailer for this movie I was thinking about how people are so busy “living” in the different worlds of the internet that they aren’t really living in real life. Maybe we’re already living in a world of “surrogates” and this movie is just embodying that concept in a different way.

Just a deep moment I had there.

What are your thoughts? Do you think surrogates could actually happen in the future? Do you want them to? What would you have a surrogate do for you? :)