Can robots be kind? This is one of many questions we will want to know the answer as robots continue to develop.  Robots will be much more prevalent in coming years—in industry, health care, transportation, medicine, and in the home.  Japan probably has the most advanced homecare robots today, helping the elderly with everyday tasks; undoubtedly these robots are programmed to behave in a kind way, with a soothing voice, gentle touch, and a relaxed pace.  In the U.S. there are already videos showing home robots making omelets, folding clothes, and vacuuming the living room. 

Undoubtedly such robots can appear … Read More

It first hit us during Covid—with face masks, social distancing, and Zoom—but it’s been building for a long time.  I mean the way technology,  AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the internet are robbing us all of face-to-face, touch-to-touch, and breath-to-breath intimacy.  That kind of closeness has been our birthright as human beings for two million years, and suddenly, in the space of a historical instant, we are being robbed of it.  I remember reading an article by a man reflecting on his Covid experience; he said that the thing he missed most during Covid was dapping—the elaborate multipart handshake  that wordlessly … Read More

It’s taken me a while to notice it. Perhaps I didn’t really acknowledge it until after the recent mid-term elections. But I’m definitely feeling less anxious than, say, 3 or 4 months ago. I’m sleeping better too. It’s a subtle thing; it’s not as though I was riddled with anxiety before. It was more like a gray mist that clouded my vision, or my mood. And now it’s mostly gone. I feel more like myself now, like the typically optimistic person that I usually am.
Part of it is the fading of Covid as a moment by moment concern. I … Read More