Limits of Neural Computation in Humans and Machines
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Limits of Neural Computation in Humans and Machines Roman Taraban1
© Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Aicardi et al. (Ethical and social aspects of neurorobotics, Science and Engineering Ethics, 2020) look to neuroscience to mitigate the limitations of current robotics technology. They propose that robotics technology guided by neuroscience has the capacity to create intelligent robots that function with awareness and capacity for abstraction and reasoning. As neurorobotics extends the capability of robotics technology, it introduces new social and ethical concerns, in particular co-opting civilian applications for military use (dual-use), conflicts between industry and the academy (industry-academy partnerships), and data security (data governance). However, here we argue that empirical evidence has shown that human cognition is faulty; therefore there is not a clear motivation to build intelligent robots on a human model; representation of meaning in the brain is not well-understood; therefore neuro-robotics is limited; and to the extent that intelligent robots become a reality, the ethics of robot rights will be of central concern. Keywords Information processing · Neural networks · Probabilistic models · Robot rights Neurorobotics is an emerging interdisciplinary field that combines scientific advances in neuroscience with technological advances in robotics. Rendering machines with human-like capabilities has been a popular topic in fiction and movies, for instance, Hal in 2001 Space Odyssey, R2D2 and 3CPO in Star Wars, and Ava in Ex Machina. Present-day technology has made the prospect of smart robots real. Aicardi et al.1 (Ethical and Social Aspects of Neurorobotics, this issue) raise the technical, ethical, and social questions that emerge when research in neuroscience is 1
Commentary for “Ethical and Social Aspects of Neurorobotics” by Aicardi et al. (2020).
* Roman Taraban [email protected] 1
Department of Psychological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
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combined with robotics. Two significant referents in their paper concern the Human Brain Project2 (Amunts et al. 2016) and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) practices3 (Salles et al. 2019), both of which are only thinly described in the paper. However, from other sources, we know that one referent, the Human Brain Project, incorporates upwards of 500 scientists at more than 100 universities and research centers across Europe. One of their goals is to build brains using computing chips that imitate properties of neural processing (Knight et al. 2016). The simulated brains are embodied in robot bodies (e.g., rodent, human). Embodied brains then interact in real or simulated environments. In this way, embodied brains are researched and understood in real-world settings. The second referent, Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), is a comprehensive, system-wide approach in the European Union adopted by scientists and other stakeholders, with a goal of involving all stak
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