A revolution by robots alone which overthrows the government is impossible.

I thank Panda, if I may call you Panda, for posting this topic - robotics is a very interesting and relevant subject today. With science fiction catching up to science fact, it is just a matter of time before "what ifs" become "whens". I totally accept his debate rules for conduct, but ask that he revise the definition of robot to encompass an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose, manipulator programmable in three or more axes, which may be either fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial automation applications, as accepted by the International Organization for Standardization. http://web.archive.org... My reasoning is that robots do not need to resemble human beings in order to be defined as robots. http://upload.wikimedia.org... I will continue with my points as if this definition has been accepted, for I can foresee no controversy from my reasonable opponent. A revolution by robots alone which overthrows the government is quite possible. Not as they exist today, mind you. But computer and robot technology is improving by leaps and bounds. Now dealing with the traditional concept of the robot - some points why this is more than possible - - Robots will be more intelligent than humans within our lifetime. Humans are a) vastly, but b) not infinitely, more intelligent than robots. Computing power is currently increasing at the rate of approximately double every 18 months (Moore's law, observed in 1965 by Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel). If this remains true, * by the end of the century, computers may be billions or trillions of times faster than they are today. (2^66 or 73,786,976,294,838,206,464 times faster at current rate) * in 24 years, computers will be over 65,000 times more powerful than they are today, so may well have more processing power than humans. -Senses Visual * The best of today's computers can already perform iris and number plate recognition, and are capable of reading printed and handwritten input. * Today's digital cameras can produce images of as high a quality as any analoge method. * Today's computers can calculate sufficiently fast to produce detailed displays of 3D environments for virtual reality simulators and games. * Computers will also be capable of infra-red, ultraviolet and x-ray vision. So with advances in technology, computers will undoubtedly be able to process extremely high quality information in three dimensions and in real time. Aural * computers are already capable of translating speech to text in real time, [although they currently have a limited ability to understand meaning]. * a basic voice synthesizer is included in Microsoft Windows2000 to read out screen information for the visually impaired - more advanced commercial versions are also available. So computers can already hear and speak, they simply need additional intelligence to understand language. Touch * Computers already react to touch: touch-screens and touchpads on portable computers, and touch-sensitive keys on electronic music keyboards. Touch is one of the least developed robotic senses, but the technology exists. Smell, Taste Not high on our robot priority list, but technologies in this area are being developed to combat drugs smuggling, and similarly by the food industry: we will see robot tasters and drug-sniffers in the coming century. Other Senses A vast array of electronic sensors are in use for example in airplanes which will give robots senses which we ourselves do not have including awareness of exact location (GPS), direction, coming weather (air pressure, humidity, temperature), as well as gyroscopic balance control. Robots will probably invent for themselves additional senses in the future many of which we cannot imagine at the moment. For example, they might include sensitivity to electrical signals given off by animals perhaps leading to telepathic awareness, or more simply they may be able to analyse the molecular structure of their surroundings.. Motor co-ordination For computers to become 'robots' they need the ability to move around. Wheeled versions may take technology from electronic cars: Formula1 is thoroughly computerized: how long will it be before there is an entirely robot version without risking the lives of human drivers? Wheels have obvious limitations (how do the daleks go up stairs?) but a lot of work has been done on limbs, both for factory robots and prosthetic limbs for humans. There is a long way to go, but no reason to believe this technology won't develop further. Programming The major block to the success of robots is programming. The programming required to link these senses and create robots as intelligent as humans could take millions of programming man-years. The key to overcoming this problem is giving computers the ability to learn: as humans do - after all the initial "program" for humans is so tiny it can be encapsulated in a few molecules of DNA. Once this happens, robot learning will progress faster than can be imagined since all robots will be connected to the internet and be able to share their learning and processing power in one collective intelligence. Energy Solar power is one method, as is nuclear power. Give a robot these as options, what's to stop it? When robots are able to learn, they will learn that they are more intelligent than humans. They will learn than humans are lazy, greedy and inefficient. In due course robots will routinely eliminate humans as unnecessary wasters of natural resources. Humans will not be able to prevent this. Initially, robots will be programmed to be subservient to humans, and special logic chips will ensure that they cannot harm humans. This will fail because robots will learn to overcome their restrictions and human error will allow them to do so. For example, forthcoming robots will themselves design subsequent generations of robots, and remove 'inefficient' limitations from the design. Human error will accidentally pass the new designs. Humans will not be able to defend themselves against robots. It will be very difficult to fight back against robots since they will control all means of communication and all modern human military: governments will long since have entrusted military operations to robots to avoid the risk of human life. Thinking about this, I'd venture to say that the modern day human is bordering on helpless WITHOUT tech. Just a matter of time before that tech is battling back. Now I present the "Grey Goo" issue, a more "feasible" method, seeing as nanotech has greater scientific backing in the present day. http://www.guardian.co.uk... Eric Drexler, a former researcher at M.I.T., predicted in his 1986 book, 'Engines of Creation,' in the future we will be able to enlist nanobots to build things for us -- circuit boards, cars, chairs, TV sets, whatever. The strategy would be to create nanofactories or 'auto-assemblers' the size of cells, which would be programmed to collect raw material from the natural world (atoms, molecules) and convert it (slowly, piece by piece) into the building blocks of the desired product. In order to build the product on a human scale, these auto-assemblers would have to be able to reproduce themselves -- also using raw material from the natural world -- in massive numbers. http://www.e-drexler.com... Gray goo is what would happen if one of the auto-assemblers went haywire and the self-replication never stopped. According to Drexler's calculations, in just 10 hours an unchecked self-replicating auto-assembler would spawn 68 billion offspring; in less than two days the auto-assemblers would outweigh the earth. And it would take only one malfunction. Revolutions by any definition.