We hate robots. Ok, wait, back up. We at least think they are more evil than good. Try it yourself – “are robots” in Google nets you evil before good. Megatron has higher SEO than Optimus Prime, and it’s not just because he’s so much cooler. It cuz he evil, cuz. It do be like that.
It’s not even a compliment to call someone robotic; society connotes this to emotionless preprogrammed shells of hideous nothing, empty clankbags that walk and talk and not much else. So, me at a party. Or if you’re a nerd, you’re a robot. (Me at a party once again.)
Let’s start by assuming robots as human-like bipedal machines that are designed with some amount of artificial intelligence, generally designed to fulfill a job to free up humanity from drudgery. All sounds good so far. So why do they creep us out?
There’s a litany of reasons why, best summed up with the concept of the uncanny valley, first coined by roboticist Masahiro Mori (Wow he’s still alive! The robots have not yet won) in 1970. Essentially, we know what a human is and how it looks and behaves against the greater backdrop of life and physics. When this is translated to a synthetic being, we are ok with making a robot look and act like us to a point, where we then notice all the irregularities and differences.
Most of these are minor – unnaturally smooth or rigid movements, light not scattering properly on a surface, eyes that don’t sync up quite right when they blink, and several other tiny details. Lots of theories take over at this point about why this creeps us out. But a blanket way to think about it is that our expectation doesn’t match what we are seeing; the reality we’re presented with is off just enough and this makes us uncomfortable .
Ever stream a show and the audio is a half second off? Makes you really annoyed. Magnify that feeling by a thousand and you’re smack in the middle of the uncanny valley. It’s that unnerving. One possible term for this is abjection, which is what happens the moment before we begin to fear something. Our minds – sensing incompatibility with robots – know this is something else, something other , and faced with no way to categorize this, we crash.
This is why they make good villains in movies – something we don’t understand and given free will and autonomy, potentially imbued with the bias of a creator or capable of forming terrifying conclusions all on its own (humans are a virus). But they also make good heroes, especially if they are cute or funny. Who doesn’t love C3PO? That surprise that they are good delights us. Build in enough appeal to a robot, and we root for them and feel empathy when they are faced with hardships. Do robots dream of electric sheep? Do robots have binary souls? Bits and zeros and ones?
Professor Jaime Banks (Texas Tech University’s College of Media & Communication) spends a lot of time thinking about how we perceive robots. It’s a complex and multifaceted topic that covers anthropomorphism, artificial intelligence, robot roles within society, trust, inherently measuring virtue versus evil, preconceived notions from entertainment, and numerous topics that cover human-robot interactions.
The world is approaching a future where robots may become commonplace; there are already robot bears in Japan working in the healthcare field. Dressing them up with cute faces and smiles may help, but one jerky movement later and we’ve dropped all suspension.
At some point, we have to make peace with the idea that they will be all over the place. Skynet, GLaDOS in Portal, the trope of your evil twin being a robot that your significant will have to shoot in the middle of your fight, that episode of Futurama where everything was a robot and they rose up against their human masters with wargod washing machines and killer greeting cards, the other Futurama episode where they go to a planet full of human hating murderous robots… We’ve all got some good reasons to fear robots and their coded minds.
But as technology advances, it makes sense to have robots take over menial tasks, perform duties for the needy and sick, and otherwise benefit humanity at large. And so the question we face is how to build that relationship now to help us in the future.
There’s a fine line between making them too humanlike versus too mechanical. Pixar solved the issue of unnerving humanoids in their movies by designing them stylistically – we know they are human and accept that the figure would look odd in real life. We can do the same with robots – enough familiarity to develop an appeal, but not enough to erase the divide between humanity and robot. It may just be a question of time and new generations growing up with robots becoming fixtures of everyday life. I’m down for cyborgs too.
Fearing them might not even be bad, as Banks points out: “…a certain amount of fear can be a useful thing. Fear can make us think critically and carefully and be thoughtful about our interactions, and that would likely help us productively engage a world where robots are key players.”
Also, check out Robot Carnival if you get the chance – specifically the Presence episode of the anthology.
BawldGuy
May 25, 2010 at 12:37 pm
The contract is the contract, meaning that it covers this expressly one way or the other. Either the seller signed something saying it was done, or the inspector did. If neither happened, then I suspect the agent may have a potential problem. The central issue is what the contract says about repairs as it relates to buyer/seller agreement on the inspection report results.
If, for example, it called for written proof of completion, and the escrow was allowed to close without it, who in your state is held responsible? Or, is it implied that all work was completed if the sale was allowed to close? Those are just a couple ways it could go, cuz as you’re well aware, it varies widely from state to state.
Regardless, if the solution can’t be found in the contract itself, shame on the state board of Realtors.
Pat Hallesy
May 25, 2010 at 12:59 pm
This is where a good home warranty would have come in handy.
markbrian
May 25, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Pat hit the nail on the head. A home warranty is always a good idea on top of an inspection.
Benn Rosales
May 25, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Sometimes we get stuck in the past. I’ve seen air conditioner compressors go out on day 3 of ownership. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t inspected, it was working, but it failed. Thank goodness for a great home warranty that covered compressor not to mention there was some life left on the compressor warranty as well. These things happen. I’ve seen brand spanking new cars not start or stall. In other words, the solution is getting it repaired, rather than finding fingers to point.
Bruce Lemieux
May 25, 2010 at 8:25 pm
If the buyer’s agent is actually representing the interests of the buyer, then he/she must make sure the seller does what he agreed to do. If the seller was responsible for servicing the furnace, then the buyer’s agent must insure the seller has an invoice *before* settlement. And – the day before / day of settlement, the buyer’s agent should walk through the home and check out all of the appliances and systems, so if there’s a problem on the day before settlement, money can be escrowed to protect the buyer.
For two of my listings that closed this week, the buyer agent has looked around the house with their clients, checked home inspection items, and that’s it. They didn’t turned on the A/C, run the dishwasher, nothing. If you are a buyer’s agent, represent the buyer. Go through a detailed walkthrough checklist before you close. After settlement, all issues become the buyer’s issues — and, by default, the buyers agent’s issues.
Getting a home warranty is often a good idea, but it’s not a replacement for a buyer’s agent doing his job.
Stephanie Crawford
May 27, 2010 at 2:26 am
My company requires that we add additional language to all offers that essentially says that the seller will provide a receipt for any work/repairs resulting from negotiations, inspections and/or appraisals. Our general contract only calls for repairs to be completed in a “professional and workman-like manner” so we go the extra mile. It’s a great policy that has covered my @ss on more than one occasion. The trick, of course, is actually getting the receipts before closing. I’m not sure there would be a recourse unless you could prove a seller’s deceit in open court – a difficult thing to do.
Patrick
May 27, 2010 at 8:21 am
Thank you all for your great comments. It’s pretty clear the agent should have been more diligent to insure the furnace service and any paperwork was provided. I also agree that a home warrantee is a nice fail safe in this instance as things like a furnace do have a tendency to stop working…often at the most inopportune times.
Ken Montville
May 27, 2010 at 8:33 am
I came across something similar to this recently. I was the listing agent and the inspection went fine, everyone signed off on everything and we all went to settlement. About 3 days after settlement some plumbing pipes that were embedded in the concrete slab of the house started to leak. The home warranty company had a maximum they would pay for stuff in concrete and there was no way the inspector could have foreseen something was going to happen.
This is a case of a) the age of the house and the natural deterioration of the systems of the house and b) the joys of home ownership. So many times, new home owners that run into challenges right after they move in think they can just go back to the Seller for a remedy — like calling the landlord to make a repair.
I’m sorry. As far as I’m concerned (and I’m not a lawyer), when the ink is dry at settlement the new home owner is responsible for the house and all the systems of the house.
Fraud is a bad thing, of course. But if the Realtor makes a good faith effort to find the Seller and cannot or the Seller is unwilling to offer a remedy after closing then it’s up to the [new] home owner to take care of their home.
Ashley Howard
May 27, 2010 at 5:21 pm
I would like to agree with most that have commented, and say having a home warranty would have cleared this up efficiently. If there was seller’s coverage in place then the home warranty company would have been the ones to dispatch service on the furnace and would most definitely have record of the service. If the buyers have a home warranty then I would assume(depending on coverage details in your state) it would be covered regardless, as most home warranty coverage does not require an inspection.
Agents may want to be on the look out for a clause that home warranty companies are adding to their policy called “unknown pre-existing conditions”. Some contracts you will find cover “unknown pre-existing conditions” and some will not. The ones that do NOT cover it, will most certainly try to use it as a reason to deny coverage.
On the upside, the buyers always have the option of adding a home warranty outside of closing that would take care of any additional “joys of home ownership”!