IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - March 2017 - 95

Student's Corner

Are You a Pessibot or an Optibot?
By Megan Emmons

T

hank you for turning the page
and taking some time to read
this installment of "Student's
Corner!" When I sat down to
begin typing my short address, I
looked around at the many small
robots adorning my shelf and tabletop.
I feel safe assuming you share my soft
spot for robots, considering you are
reading IEEE Robotics and Automation
Magazine. Robotics and automation
are increasingly present in our world,
yet, in talking with many people outside
related technical fields, it seems that
pop culture remains a dominant force
in shaping public perception of these
advancing technologies. The 1980s saw
robots presented as militaristic ter-
minators led by an artificial intelligence
network that decided to eliminate hu-
mans. The friendlier Iron Giant was
still initially built for war, but changed
through the com panionship of a
young boy.
Building on The Iron Giant, modern
films often paint robots in a friendlier,
more utilitarian light. Wall-E and Big
Hero 6 both work to save humans, but
the opponent remains a sinister machine
form, either artificially intelligent or con-
trolled by misguided humans. Chappie
presents the innocence of a young child,
and is equally susceptible to negative
human influences.
These movies left varied impressions
on people, which become evident when
I am casually discussing my personal
research interest and use phrases like
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MRA.2016.2646098
Date of publication: 29 March 2017

Figure 1. The mechanization of menial jobs
aids in allowing humans the freedom to
focus on more complex problems. (Image
courtesy of RAS-SIGHT.)

"swarm robotics" and "emergent behav-
ior." Some people jump to Skynet, the
neural network brain behind The Terminator. Others enthusiastically picture
a world of helper robots leading us to a
Wall-E-esque future (in a preapoca-
lyptic Earth, of course). I find myself
grouping these people into two catego-
ries: pessibots and optibots.
Pessibots are well aware of all the
potential dangers posed by machines.
Artificial intelligence could possibly
surpass human intelligence and lead to
a master-slave society à la The Matrix.
Mechanization replaces human labor,
displacing jobs in a time of economic
uncertainty. By contrast, optibots see
the promise of intelligent machines for
helping humans solve complex prob-
lems and facilitating a higher quality of
life for everyone. Mechanization of
menial jobs aids this process by increas-
ing efficiency (Figure 1).
Naturally, most people have mixed
feelings about robots; their views fall
somewhere between these two extremes.
Though I would certainly consider

myself to be more of an optibot, I abso-
lutely believe both the optimistic and
pessimistic views are foundations for
positive progress. Robotics and automa-
tion offer limitless possibilities, which
also means there are very real dangers. I
think we must be driven by hope but
strengthened by caution. As a society, we
must move forward with optibots and
pessibots in agreement to ensure our
ideas and creations truly bring about the
positivity we envision.
The IEEE Robotics and Automation
Society (RAS) has many great members
(yay for all of you!), and those I have
met in person often present an inspiring
balance of the optibot and pessibot
archetypes. Raj
Madhavan, cur-
rent and found- The 1980s saw
ing chair of the robots presented
IEEE RAS Special
Interest Group as militaristic
on Humanitar- terminators led
ian Technologies
(SIGHT), is one by an artificial
such gentleman. intelligence network
I had the plea-
sure of meeting that decided to
with Raj just eliminate humans.
prior to writing
this column, and
am excited to see some of his efforts show-
cased in this week's Initiative Highlight!
Initiative Highlight: RAS-SIGHT
The IEEE Humanitarian Ad Hoc Com-
mittee approved the formation of RAS-
SIGHT in September 2012, making
RAS the first IEEE Society to have a
SIGHT. As shown on the RAS-SIGHT

march 2017

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