Visual Argument: Why Do We Fear Robots?

Visual Argument: Robots are Scary!

First of all, Robots are just plain scary. Why you ask? Well lets find out. I mean just look at the picture, he's mean and nasty and not at all human-like. But the fear we have of robots It's much more than just Kill-o-meters and the right for robots to bear arms, it's their humanistic qualities.

Being a little more human gives robots the opportunity to do things such as bar tending, as shown in this image. Some may say, "well, yes, of course I want a robot bartender in my home to pour me delicious drinks and beverages from his human like appendages." I would say, "be careful what you wish for."

In another scenario robots can start taking over our jobs, just like this completely robot run restaurant in Germany. Think of all the people not needed in a totally automated restaurant. Now tell me, if you were served by a robot, would you still tip 18%?

Now is where robots begin to be really scary. Not only can robots take over our jobs, but can have personal interaction with humans. Having these humanistic qualities, robots have the potential to act as friends and companions, as shown in this picture of a robot playing rock, paper, scissors with a man. Having this capability may threaten the need for human interaction.

Even further along the robotic-relations continuum is the possibility of robots to replace the need of life companions. Robots can be so life-like, so why not create the perfect girlfriend? Why be with someone who has thought and intellect when you can have a robot that can be switched on or off?

Finally, we have the possibility of robots looking so real it is difficult to tell robots apart from humans from physical surface features alone (as depicted in the movie A.i.). When robots begin to look this real, the fear stems from not knowing who is what and coming to terms with the fact that robots can be capable of any human act. Having these realistic humanistic qualities is what makes robots scary. With these qualities, robots threaten the place of humans in society.

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This post has been an attempt at a visual argument, answering the question why do we fear robots, as prompted in the Selfe article. In doing this visual argument, I would say the visual impact is indeed strengthened by text; I don't think this argument would be very strong without the text. On the other hand, I really think the salience of the images strengthens the argument as the images are organized in a progression from a very crude robotic image to one that becomes scarily realistic. The images are key in thinking about robots seeming to be human. The last two images clearly present this: the robotic girl is very life-like and the image from the film A.i. projects the possible future of robotics. Even though I took this assignment in a very light-hearted way, I can really begin to see how visual writing can be a useful tool. I haven't quite figured out yet how you could make an argument like this truly visual, but then again, that isn't necessarily the point of these assignments. I think using visual writing along side of essay writing can really help to strengthen an argument if it calls for visual cues. I'm not quite sure how I may incorporate this into my classroom, but as our culture becomes increasingly visual, it will be an important tool to teach.