Reading Reflection #4

Thursday, April 18, 2019

In the final chapters of part one of Turkle’s book, she mainly focuses on the ethical implications of building relationships with robots. I found these chapters particularly interesting. Much of Turkle’s research has involved observing how children interact with high fidelity robots, such as ones named Cog and Kismet. These robots are designed to react to certain cues. They often malfunction, and don’t respond as children might expect them to. Curiously, Turkle found that when the robots didn’t respond how children wanted them to, they felt that the robots didn’t like them. Children had highly emotional reactions to being unwanted by the robots. Turkle wonders if it becomes unethical to cause vulnerable children to feel these emotions of being unwanted.

She writes of another curious situation that brings ethics into play. In this circumstance, a toddler, a mother, and a grandmother are observed. The grandmother is given a My Real Baby. Although the grandmother clearly admits to knowing the baby robot is not “real,” she tends to the My Real Baby more than she tends to the toddler, who is clearly expressing needs such as a hunger during the observation. Turkle comments that this was an uncomfortable moment for everyone present during the observation. The situation demonstrated the phenomenon of how humans become enchanted by these robotic “creatures.”

Turkle goes on to discuss the ethical implications of relationships between adults and robots as well. It is suggested that robots could be suitable friends and companions for adults. One remark I found interesting was when Turkle points out that perhaps if we’re manufacturing robotic friends, we’re demeaning what we mean by “friendship.” Are we lowering the value of connections with other humans? I found this very poignant, and I definitely agree with the sentiment. If our standard friendship is just a body that performs in a pleasing way to us, I think we have lost sight of what we truly mean by the term “friend.”

Once concept from this section that I found particularly intriguing, and relevant to my work, was the idea of robots serving as aids to the elderly. In some cases robots have even been designed to replace nurses caring for the elderly. These robots have been designed to perform simple tasks, such as administering pills, helping with a bath, or helping a patient navigate a busy hospital to get to an appointment. As a nurse myself, I found it interesting to think about a robot replacing some of my daily tasks. On one hand, it would be nice to not have to deal with the more troublesome parts of the job. But as Turkle points out, sometimes even in these mundane tasks, a touch of human compassion makes a difference. She goes on to describe a time she was injured and had to be transported around the hospital on a stretcher for various tests. The transport staff were encouraging and comforting, and even high-fived her when she found out the injury was minor. Could a robot have gotten the job done? Yes. Was Turkle glad it was a human to comfort her that day? Also yes.

I think reflecting on the ethical implications of robotic technology is important. In both fields I work in, education and nursing, technology is continuing to grow. Thinking about some of these ethical implications helps me understand how technology use might affect the students and the patients I work with.

Here’s an example of how I implement robotic technology in the simulation lab setting with my students. They are able to practice nursing skills on either high or mid-fidelity mannequins. Here students are pictured placing a nasogastric tube. Permission was obtained for use of this photograph.