Robots and AI

Answer (14 - 18 year olds)

Robots are man-made machines that can be programmed to follow a set of instructions to carry out particular jobs and actions.

Robots can be very useful because they can do all sorts of things that could be very boring, difficult or dangerous for humans. For example, some robots can be controlled by doctors to do very delicate operations, some can be used to collect information from distant planets, and others can be used to perform repetitive tasks as part of factory production lines.

As robots become more and more common, and get used for more and more complicated tasks, we need to ask some important questions about how we treat robots, how we use them and whether that’s a good idea. For example, would an elderly person get better care and have a higher quality of life if cared for by a robot? Should we use them as dangerous weapons in wars? What if people lose their jobs as they get replaced by robots? Could there be a sci-fi style robot uprising if we don’t take care with how we programme them?

But talking about robots can also lead us to questions that are less about big and potentially worrying issues, and more about exciting, interesting questions like what it means to be human, whether robots could be capable of emotions like love, whether or not some kinds of robots should have rights, and what amazing things robots could be used to do in the future. Whether the questions are big and concerning, or big and exciting, it’s important that we ask them and explore the answers offered by science, faith, philosophy, ethics and other human ways of knowing.

We’ll be adding more big questions on this topic, so keep checking this page!