Robots star in ads, but mislead viewers about technology

Robots star in ads, but mislead viewers about technologyRobots star in ads, but mislead viewers about technologyNowhere is the advance of technology more evident than in the rise of robots and artificial intelligence. From smart devices to self-checkout lanes to Netflix recommendations, robots (the hardware) and AI (the software) are everywhere inside the technology of modern society. Theyre increasingly common in ads, too During the 2019 Super Bowl alone, seven ads aired featuring either robots or AI.Since I began studying human-robot interactions alfruchtwein a decade ago, Ive observed that in most ads, robots typically fall into one of three general categories scary, sad or stupid. All three perpetuate common misconceptions about technologies that are already beginning to play a pivotal role in peoples lives.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThe fear factorScary robot ads are i nevitable, given the popularity of the sinister robot trope. Advertisers, like Hollywood, embrace scary robot narratives because theyre more dramatic than ones in which robots and humans get along.Fear is Everywhere, a paranoia-inducing 2019 commercial, advertises SimpliSafe home security systems, which use some of the same monitoring technology the ad demonizes. Rather than reminding viewers of their concerns about burglars or basement flooding, the ad highlights robots and AI as the omnipresent danger. A woman in an electronics store asks her friend if hes listening, and a creepy computer voice issues forth from a speaker Always, Denise.SimpliSafes Fear is Everywhere ad.That same ad also highlights a second major type of fear that robots will replace humans. A man watching a sporting darbietung tells his friends, in five years, robots will be able to do your job, and your job and your job, while a robot sitting in the stands listens menacingly, as if affirming the assertion.Halo Top suggests humans only need is ice cream.Then, of course, theres the third trope, of the evil robot intent on harming people. A 2017 Halo Top ice cream ad, for example, functions as a 90-second horror movie, in which a robot force-feeds a woman ice cream, and then casually mentions that everyone she knows is dead.There are real threats to humans from robots and AI. Automation may eliminate millions of jobs and it might create many others that dont yet exist. Most likely, both will happen, as has happened throughout history Elevator operators disappeared and social-media manager positions were created. The threat revolves around who will and who wont be able to adjust or receive training to get the new jobs.But the world is a long way off from robots that portray a version of the Frankenstein Complex, Isaac Asimovs phrase for the human fear that poorly designed mechanical creations might turn against humanity. Robots have no intentions only instructions. They can act as though th ey have feelings, but experience no actual emotion. No one knows if robot emotion or sentience are even possible.Ads that instill fear of technology in humans can present an unrealistic and unhelpful mindset for adapting to the increasing presence of this technology in our lives whether in criminal justice, health care or other areas. Fear can also distract people from properly understanding and planning for ways in which humans can continue to offer meaningful skills and insights beyond the abilities of any machine.Doom and gloomPringles are for everyone sort of.Sad robot ads combat peoples fears about robots while simultaneously eliciting sympathy for them. In a 2019 Pringles ad, a smart device bemoans its lack of hands to stack chips or mouth to eat them. The robots physical limitations reassure viewers of human superiority, and yet the robot is advanced enough to have genuine feelings of sadness.Could a child do your taxes?Turbo Taxs RoboChild perpetuated the myth of robot int elligence in two appearances during the 2019 Super Bowl. RoboChild, which looks like young Haley Joel Osments face stuck on a small robot body, wants to be an accountant, but encounters constant reminders that its in a human world. A person tells RoboChild it isnt emotionally complex enough for the job, correctly distinguishing between the human and robot abilities to feel emotion while sparking viewers sympathy for the robot.However, emotion isnt necessary to fulfill most accounting functions Artificial intelligence already performs a number of financial tasks, many of which require human interaction.Falling to piecesRobots may elend make great insurance agents.The third category of advertising robots doesnt evoke fear or sympathy, but rather ridicule. A 2018 State Farm ad, for instance, pokes fun at a rival agency that has begun using cheap robot agents instead of human ones. The employee robot is a mess, spurting both hydraulic fluid and gibberish. In stupid robot ads, robots ha ve cognitive constraints, sometimes in addition to physical ones.These ads are at least somewhat realistic, as robots and AI have fundamental limitations even the system that can beat an international Go champion isnt much good at anything else. Even so, portraying robots as a collection of laughable, malfunctioning parts undermines the seriousness of their implications. Humans who are laughing at dumb machines may not think clearly or prepare actively for a future in which even limited robots and AI are key players.Amazons Super Bowl ad featuring Alexa fails initially seemed like a collection of stupid robot highlights. A collar that allows a dog to order an entire truckload of food reminds viewers of Alexas that interpreted TV news or casual conversations as directives to buy products.It rightly makes the point that no product is perfect but it subtly demonstrates the power of Amazons technologies, which in the ad shut down an entire continental power grid by accident. The techn ology itself is portrayed as dysfunctional and something over which we can all have a laugh. However, the failures illustrate that the flaws lie in human efforts of concept, design or programming. Laughing at the machines can distract people from that deeper insight, or from considering who should be responsible when automation-enabled disaster strikes.Commercials arent likely to encourage viewers to seek out legitimate information about new technologies. Their main job is to sell a product or service, not contribute to an informed society. But they need not perpetuate generalized and unrealistic fears. The more misdirection people absorb about robots and AI, the less capable they will be of understanding and managing the real implications of technological advances.Joelle Renstrom, Lecturer of Rhetoric, Boston UniversityThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people