Essay Sample on Controversial Issues Pertaining to Technology

Cynthia Breazeal argues that robots were meant to interact with things and not people. However, she claims that social robots today are more about people. Even though Sherry Turkle recommends the use of robots, she insists that robots are destroyed human-to-human relationships. Since the use of robots sparks a lot of questions, the robot has both positive and negative effects that cannot be ignored.

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Sherry Turkle narrates that there are some adverse effects that robots cause to human lives. In her argument, she posits that the negative effects on normal operation can occur in individuals' lives without noticing (Turkle). She claims to a vast knowledge about handling technology, but she has no clue that a close human-robot interaction was being experienced at a higher inappropriate level. One may agree with Turkle that other forms of technology may cause various harm and ethical challenges with human-robot interaction.

Turkle claims that individual feelings are not hurt since robots do not have any feelings. In the current world, robots can be the best substitute, although they cannot have a real relationship since they cannot express their emotion. In essence, it forms the first place where the relationship begins. Only a few individuals can access this kind of technology.

Social robots can consume people's time from individual relationships into reality. In this context, the relationship between family and friends diminishes as the relationship with robots remains fantastic. Social robots do not have any feelings, cannot make a person feel guilty, have no feelings, and require fewer efforts to maintain the life of the human weather the lows and highs.

One of the opposing sides is that technology is taking people's lives in a way that they cannot realize. In the current world, at least an adult has a cell phone. People become absorbed in a virtual world by playing Angry Birds, reading emails, and texting.

Turkle thinks that people would learn from what they have acquired from the virtual to improve life. From her perspective, she says that the small devices that people have in their pockets are powerful to the extent of changing who they become in life (Turkle). People text and do emails during various meetings.

They were texting impacts how people relate with each other and self. The most important thing that matters to people is control. In essence, people may think that they are interconnected with people but may end up hiding from each other. In reality, it may be difficult to raise an adolescent who may need a face to face conversation. Ideally, texting and emails may make it difficult for children to have a proper conversation.

Online conversations may not be effective for face to face conversation. Notably, the virtual conversation can compromise how people may relate to one another. Online conversations make individuals believe that no one would fancy listening to them. For that reason, people turn to social robots to empathize with their situation. However, robots do not know life and face no death

Currently, people expect more to technology than one another. Technology appeals to people most where individuals seem more vulnerable. In most instances, people are lonely and are afraid of intimacy. However, people are not in full control of technology. The moment people are alone, they become anxious, and they feel that solitude should be solved. Interconnection help people to share their feelings and problems. Ideally, people do not feel themselves and end up sharing their ideas. Loneliness may make a person to link with people to make them feel attached. In this context, a person uses others to sympathize with them instead of creating a bond with them.

If people are not willing to be alone, they are more likely to be lonelier. Such that, when people fail to educate children to stay alone, they will only learn how to be lonely. People who become successful in life are those who perform self-reflection. There is a need for people to understand how to use technology. In other words, solitude can be used in an effective way to talk to each other and establish human relationships. If people recognize their vulnerability, they can understand the importance of human-to-human interactions.

Breazeal argues that she loves the use of robots at her tender age. Robots can be supportive as they may make a person make decisions. Robots can make eye contact with a person to engage them in constructive dialogue. In her argument, the robot does not matter, but the information gathered from the robot is the most important (Breazeal). Some people even develop emotion with the robot making them empathetic to them. If a robot character becomes real in the real world, children may like them. In essence, children feel like a part of their imagination if they are allowed to interact with them. Robots are about people.

In conclusion, Turkle and Brezeal have different views on using social robots. According to Turkle, a social robot interferes with how human relationships to self and each other. Conversely, Breazeal believes that robots are all about humans. In other words, robots are useful humans to achieve their ambition, such as relationships and social life.

Works Cited

Breazeal, Cynthia. "Cynthia Breazeal." TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, www.ted.com/speakers/cynthia_breazeal.

Turkle, Sherry. "Sherry Turkle." TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, www.ted.com/speakers/sherry_turkle.