The Kibo robot will accompany astronauts into space, nothing bad can come from this

You know when you’re watching a horror movie and it gets all suspenseful like; you know those moments.  You literally yell at your television telling the foolish protagonist to NOT open that door because you know in every inch of your heart that it’s stupid and a bad idea!  As the person watching, you have insight that the character doesn’t have.  What I’m getting at here is that this is all an analogy stating why we shouldn’t send AI robots in space with astronauts.

We all have insight why this is terrifying.  The first movie that comes to mind is 2001 Space Odyssey with HAL 9000; I can’t think of a better example of a more perfect / horrifying scenario.  For another example more recent how about Prometheus?  David was an evil android that really screwed everything up.  So before we send AI robots into space perhaps we should consider the horrors they could inflict on mankind.

The Kibo Robot Project is working on human looking robot to send into space to keep astronauts company. This little guy is being created in at the Tomotaka Takahashi in Japan.  Kibo stands at 34-centimeteres and will be sent to the International Space Station to keep commander Koichi Wakata company.  He was a sort of Astro Boy / Mega Man look to him and can recognize Wakata’s face and speak Japanese.  I’ll admit… Kibo has a cute look to it.  The killer robots always try to deceive you though.

These Kibo units aren’t being designed for just this one mission though.  The main purpose of the robots is to keep the elderly company when they have no one else.  That’s a pretty noble and heartwarming cause so I can’t take anything away from that.  After all, Kibo is Japanese for “Hope” and I pray that isn’t the one thing this line or robot takes from everyone.

“I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.” -HAL 9000

[i09 via Kibo]

Historian, teacher, writer, gamer, cheat master, and tech guru: follow on Twitter @AndrewC_GZ