The Agenda with Steve Paikin (broadcasted by TVO) covered a special issue filmed at the Perimeter Institute, Waterloo, Ontario - I can’t believe they filmed it so close to where I did my undergrad (University of Waterloo).
The show frames the discussion around the question “How will robotics change our lives and our evolution?”, talks about what is currently considered ‘feasible’ in robotics and what it means to our future lives.
Guest speakers are (excepts from TVO below), and embed of the video is also provided for you below:
Michael Belfiore is a writer …

The Year in Robotics from www.technologyreview.com highlights robotics research highlights from year 2009.
Happy New Year Everyone!

Two days ago, I went to watch the movie Avatar.
I thought the plot was quite blend, but that was soon forgotten when I started to see the linkage between the idea of singularity and the movie’s storyline.
For those of you who are new to the idea of singularity the following paragraph is my attempt to describe it to you using my limited knowledge of the topic:
Key promoters of the theory/science – also called apocalyptic AI – are Ray Kurzweil and Hans Moravec. Their singularity argument is that machine intelligence will …

Title: Apocalyptic AI: Visions of Heaven in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality
Author: Robert M. Geraci
Subject: Robotics, AI, Philosophy of Religion
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published Date: March 5, 2010
Link: Amazon.com.

The following suggested reading was passed on to me by a good friend of mine, Francisco Grajales (@Ciscogiii).
This New York Time book review summarizes some interesting content from Michael Belfiore’s book ‘The Department of Mad Scientists’.
The following excerpts introduce a few interesting roboethics questions from the NYT book review: Book Review – History of Darpa – ‘The Department of Mad Scientists,’ by Michael Belfiore – Review – NYTimes.com.
So maybe we’ll let robots drive our cars. But would you let a robot cut you open? That’s Darpa’s next project. In minimally invasive surgery, doctors insert …

The following link is just another general editorial raising questions/concerns about various roboethics issues – not much is new.
But the article alludes to the possibility that virtual sex and our relationship with online avatars may help us in answering some of the questions regarding sex robots.
A woman in Britain broke up with her husband because she found his avatar (a computerized alter ego) having virtual sex online with someone else’s avatar.
Original Article: Smart robots are on the way.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the visitors to the Roboethics Info Database (aka. tin can thoughts).
Since May 25th, 2008 (the  day I made my first post) this blog has led me to connect with so many people in the field of roboethics.
Now, Google tells me that over 80 people visit the Roboethics Info Database regularly, and they come from 10 different countries covering four different continents: North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. And I feel so privileged to have such a large …

Embedded below is a talk by Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown at TED.com discussing global ethic vs. national interest.
It’s somewhat related to roboethics in a way, since the field has been promoting communication between different countries to talk about common global ethic issues – although national interests in the field of robotics may lurk beneath.
via Gordon Brown on global ethic vs. national interest | Video on TED.com.

A new book is being written by Dominique Mainon, who plans to discuss transhumanism, evolution of robots, cyborgs, and androids in cinema under the context of love/sex.
She is introduced by Dr. J at IEET as following:
Dominique Mainon (dominiquemainon.com), an author, screenwriter, and filmmaker living in Los Angeles. She is author of, among others, Cinema of Obsession: Erotic Fixation and Love Gone Wrong in the Movies, Femme Fatale: Cinema’s Most Unforgettable Lethal Ladies, and The Modern Amazons: Warrior Women On-Screen.
Listen to Dr. J’s interview with her at IEET. I would actually suggest you start …

The Singularity Hub has released their second annual roundup of the best robots of the year. It’s always so convenient to have a summary of what was developed throughout the year in one webpage.
Go to the Singularity Hub to watch and read about the best robots of 2009:
A Review Of The Best Robots of 2009 | Singularity Hub.