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Shanlin Li
Professor Gotlib
Tomorrows Self
December 1, 2016

Humans Attitude Towards Life-Style Robots and The Desire of Superiority

People and the society that they live in are constantly interacting and influencing each
other. It is important to detect the demands the society has and provide appropriate solutions.
The American society right now is having a large number of baby boomers transitioning into
empty-nesters. This phenomenal suggests that we are living in a time when the well-being of
elderly deserves extra attention considering a huge portion of our society includes the elderly.
The use of life-style robots can help in providing necessary care to the elderly population,
which can be beneficial for the empty-nesters because they lack younger generations to look
after them at home. Concerns like life-style robots taking over peoples jobs, and robots
gaining consciousness and becoming rebellion should not be the reasons to prevent the
development of life-style robots. In this paper, I will argue that people should not fear the
development of life-style robots, and should coexist with them in harmony. Rather than
preventing or slowing down robotic advancement, people should turn their focus on
developing life-style robots in order for people to feel more comfortable using. I want to
propose that a fundamental driven force for this resistance in robotic developments is the fear
of losing superiority as a human race. I will then argue that the desire for superiority is a
fundamental and unique trait for human beings.

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What is the purpose of having robots in the first place? The word robot...meaning
forced labor (Farah, 2010, p. 350). The definition of the word robot indicates that there is a
need for labor, more specifically the type of labor that can be controlled. In other words,
when people look for forced labor, they are looking for something like a puppet that can be
controlled by the threads held in humans hands. The awareness of having control suggests
that human wishes to be in a more powerful position than robots. People want robots to work
in the home and in dangerous and demanding environments (Farah, 2010, p. 352). This
shows that by having robots in the workforce, humans can be freed from jobs that can
directly or potentially cause harm to them. On the one hand, a number of job opportunities
can be taken away by robots, which can cause difficulties to a few population, such as labors
in factories. On the other hand, the use of robots pushes people to seek and create jobs that
can be done in better conditions. Since technological improvements and creations in various
fields are constantly taking place, and the general education level is continuously increasing,
creating and having people working in better working condition should not be difficult. The
more robotic forces are being used, the more efficient humans can be with their projects. If
too many jobs are replaced by robots, the society will demand for other methods that would
allow people to meet their needs. Consequently, the utilization and development of robots are
beneficial for the advancement of human society.
If the thought about robots can push the society to create jobs that can be done in better
condition seems too unrealistic, then let us look at how robots can help solve problems that
our society currently experiences. World War Two took place seven decades ago, and baby
boomers are becoming empty-nesters in droves (Mae, 2014). A generation is known as
baby boomers because they were born after World War Two, when there was a clear
increase in the birth rate observed at that time. The baby boomers deserve great attention
from the American society because they consists such a large population. Statistic shows that

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between 2006 and 2012, the proportion of leading-edge Boomer households consisting of a
married couple with at least one child under age 18 declined from 10 percent to just 3
percent (Mae, 2014). This means that our society has a large population of elderly who live
without anyone closely monitoring their health conditions, in which the percentage of that is
increasing rapidly. It is also important to notice that the statistic is focusing on the leadingedge Boomer households, which suggests more empty-nesters from the baby boomer
generation will come continuously. If society demands human service for the elderly then
robots can help with that. The latest extensions in robotic capabilities offer new
opportunities for household and entertainment robots (Farah, 2010, p. 356). Robots in
households can entertain empty-nesters, help with housework, and closely monitor the health
conditions of members in that household. Having robots available to work in the homes can
ease the demand of social workers and improve the well-being of empty-nesters.
Even though, our society can be benefited from having robots in the workforce, a number
of concerns about using and developing robots are also debated on. One concern is about
robots replacing human forces. According to Kevin Kelly (2012), before the end of this
century, 70 percent of todays occupations will likewise be replaced by automation. 70
percent sounds like a lot to process and can be intimidating for a number of people.
However, we should pay attention to phrases like the end of this century and todays
occupations as well. Our society is constantly changing, and jobs that were never thought of
possible are now available in the work place. The results of the invention and development of
technology can be seen and used in peoples daily life in shorter and shorter time frame. Look
at how much mobile phones have improved. Who knows what will be the normal lifestyle
before the end of this century? We could have more occupations available which leave
many other tasks done by automation. Furthermore, some of the jobs today might not be
preferred by the next generation. Having robots doing some of todays work can free people

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to advance in other fields. For example, if robots can perform some delicate surgeries, then
doctors can spend more time on monitoring and communicating with patients, or even
creating new methods to perfect treatment. Having robots replacing todays occupations
should not be scary because people are constantly creating new career opportunities, such as
jobs for computer science and outer space expansion.
Going along with the thought that new inventions are constantly taking place in the
society, it is exciting to see how much people can use their creativity to advance the life-style
robots. Let us first look at how amazing robots can be today. The associate professor Cynthia
Lynn Breazeal (2011) successfully created a robot called Leo, which can demonstrate
appropriate responses to human expressions. For example, when Leo was first introduced to
the object Cookie Monster, Leo had standup ears and reached out a hand to the new object.
Leos action showed curiosity toward the new object, which is the type of response that
humans are expected to do when they are introduced to something new. Then when the
experimenter told Leo that Cookie Monster is bad and it takes away peoples cookies,
Leos ears dropped down and it used two hands to hide itself from the Cookie Monster.
Leos ability to provide satisfactory responses to human expressions suggests that life-style
robots can potentially develop humanlike interactions and build emotional connections with
people. If life-style robots one day can interact with people like partners, then they will be
able to provide great emotional support to people. This will be especially favorable for the
empty-nesters. In countries like Japan, where the society generally support the development
for life-style robots, their robots can do as much as Tai Chi exercises. Robots in Japan are
already capable of replacing care providers for the elderly, in which the Japanese are not
threatened by this change (Garceau, 2016). It is reasonable to use life-style robots to care for
the aging population because robots can be efficient in doing housework and cautious in
monitoring the elderlys heath conditions. If the Japanese society has already successfully

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tested the practicality in using life-style robots as care providers, at least American society
can be less rejecting toward the development of such robots. The life-style robots are useful
in caring for the elderly and deserve further development and consideration in American
society.
With robots having the potential to affect peoples emotions, the concern that robots will
one day gain consciousness and enslave the human race is questioned. In other words, people
are afraid that they will lose the control of the robots and eventually robots will become more
superior to mankind. This concern is understandable considering robots are made and
developed by intelligent individuals, and the mechanisms behind robotic development can be
challenging for people outside of automation profession to understand. The lack of
information or the understanding of information can create fear in people and lead them to be
hesitate when it comes to robotic development. A pioneer in artificial intelligence, Stuart
Russell states that people should not prevent robotic development based on the fear of robots
gaining consciousness because there is not a good understanding of consciousness (Solon,
2016). Basically he is saying that people should stop scaring themselves based on notions that
they do not fully understand. Since consciousness is not well understood, putting
consciousness in robotic programming is too difficult to be realistic. Not to mention, people
can just focus on developing noninvasive robots to better serve in households and not work
on inserting consciousness in robots. We should not let our imagination of robots taking over
to out weight the benefits that they will provide. Instead of suppressing robotic development,
people should recognize the concerns that are making people nervous about robots. There
need to be protocols for robotic development that would alleviate peoples anxiety and allow
people to comfortably interact with life-style robots.

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If robots can be helpful for the current society considering baby boomers are becoming
empty-nesters, and the concerns of robots replacing human forces and robots gaining
consciousness are no longer intimidating, then why do people still want to slow down or stop
robotic development? A number of answers are possible. Some people think interactions with
robots are different than the ones with humans. Therefore, robots cannot offer everything that
human interactions can provide. I do agree that robots are not humans and not every emptynester is going to like the idea of having a robot in the home. The reason I think that people
are hesitant to use and develop life-style robots is due to the fear of losing superiority. Robots
are widely used in assembly lines and people do not seem to have a big problem with them.
However, peoples frustrations are increased when robots are used for households. When
robots work in assembly lines, they are clearly at a working condition and that reinforces the
idea of robots are productive machines. When robots work in households, the condition
changes. People start to feel territorial and feel they are threaten by the possibility of losing
superiority when robots are used in households. Households often provide more relaxing
working atmosphere than factories, which can allow robots to create a sense of intimacy with
people. Also, houses are where people rest and enjoy their lives. People commonly feel more
comfortable being at their homes because they feel less restrained and more in power of their
own choices. At workplace, people are mostly motivated to work by their desire of receiving
paychecks and the hope that their income can improve the quality of their lives after work. At
home, people are often motivated to do chores because they wish to maintain or improve their
living condition. Therefore, peoples ultimate goal is to live in a better condition and working
is an approach that allows people to reach that goal. It shows that people associate special
feelings with their houses because they work hard to live in a better condition at home and
people feel more in control when they are in their houses. When robots start coming in to
households, people are afraid that robots will live in the same conditions as humans do and

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that challenges peoples sense of superiority. When I say superiority, I meant being in a better
or the best quality or condition compare to others. Having robots working in households is an
example of people not absolutely being in a better condition than robots. Moreover, since
robots are created by intelligent engineers, people who use robots might feel robots are
representations of those highly intelligent engineers. While appreciating how much robots
can do, the users might also have the thought that their intellectual level is lower than those
engineers who made the robots. I am aware that many other reasons can cause humans
resistance in robotic development, but it is crucial to acknowledge that the resistance is
partially caused by psychological reasons.
Like mentioned before, humans invent technologies and that puts people in a better
conditions than other species. For example, a person can message another person who lives
on the other half of the planet in seconds, but most of other species are not even aware of the
existence of other continents. Humans are constantly discovering and inventing in a much
faster rate than other species do, which makes people more superior than other species and
secures mankinds sense of superiority. People are continuously finding methods to improve
human living condition which is a form of effort to maintain the absolute sense of excellence
compare to other species. While other species are minding natural resources on earth, humans
are looking for expansion to other planets. There are other reasons that lead to the invention
of technologies and the idea of colonizing other planets, but they both provide humans with
the feeling of superiority, and the eager to gain a sense of superiority can be a psychological
cause of making new inventions and discoveries. It is also important to notice that while
hierarchy can be observed in many other species, humans sense of superiority is different
from others. Like lions, many animals fight for a superior status so they can have rather
secured food supply and mating privilege. The purpose of the superior status is for survival
and passing on their genes. Humans, on the other hand, actually care about the feeling of

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superiority. A lot of people find pleasure in solving puzzles and creating new methods to
resolve problems, because completing those tasks acknowledges their abilities which provide
them with the feeling of superiority.
Seeking for the sense of superiority is rooted in humans, and evidence can be observed
from people at early stage. It is common to see that children act in selfish ways. They always
want to keep the toys they like for themselves instead of sharing with others. Such action can
be justified with various reasons. Some can argue that children want to protect the toys that
they like. This suggest that children either do not trust other people for their intention of
getting near the toys that they like, or they do not trust other peoples ability to protect the
toys as well as they can. The skepticism of other people and the absolute confidence in
themselves prove that those children hold stronger faith in themselves and assume others
would not be as good of protectors for their toys. Others may argue that the possession of the
toys they like allows them to extend the time that they can spend with something they favor
and that makes them feel happy. When those children keep the toys to themselves, they also
limit other people to access the toys, which puts those children at a more powerful status and
that suggests the sense of superiority. Whether children prefer to keep the toys to themselves
because the lack of trust in others or merely focus more on the happiness of themselves, the
desire of superiority can be detected.
When children grow into adults, the desire of superiority takes in the form of prejudice.
Prejudice is usually negative attitudes and assumptions toward someone else. Prejudice allow
people to feel that they are better than others. It is important to note that prejudice can be
formed based on assumptions. In other words, people can belittle others based on inaccurate
or incomplete information. People hold on to their prejudice and often try to justify their
prejudice because they want to feel that they are more powerful than others. The feeling of
being more powerful puts people in the idea that they are at higher status than those of whom

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are not like them. Prejudice can often grow into stereotypes which is making generalization
from individual to a whole group. Stereotypes allow people to form attitudes toward a larger
number of people and jump to that attitudes in faster rates. The intention to expend the
chances to feel they are better than others shows that people can be demanding about the
feeling of superiority even after they have gained the ability to think rationally.
This paper demonstrates that the American society should pay a great amount of attention
to the aging population because they consist a fair amount of the society makeup. The lifestyle robots can be beneficial for human society, especially for empty-nesters because those
robots can entertain them, help with chores, and monitor their health conditions. Concerns
like robots replacing human forces and gaining consciousness should not be the reasons that
prevent robotic development. Having robots replace some of current occupations might
benefit our society in the long term. Robots gaining consciousness is extremely hard to
accomplish, and people can avoid that by coming up with protocols that would create robots
which effectively support people without triggering uncomfortable feelings. Considering the
pros and cons of using robots, people should be more open-minded about robotic
development. However, people hesitate on using and developing life-style robots because
improving those robots conditions threatens humans sense of superiority. Houses have
special meanings to humans and having robots working in peoples households can suggest
that robots are more than merely working machines and that they have the potential to be in
the equal condition as humans. The fact that people are constantly pushing for breakthroughs
for new inventions suggests that people wish to improve their living conditions and make
sure that they are at a better condition compare to others. Humans sense of superiority is
different than those of other species because not only seek for the physical superiority, but
also mental supremacy. The desire of superiority can be seen in both children and well
developed adults. Children display their demand of superiority by controlling the access of

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objects that they like. The existence of prejudice and stereotype proves that rational adults
still seek for ways to feel better than others. The desire of superiority is rooted in human
nature and the wish for mental supremacy make mankind distinguishable from other species.