Who Loves A Robot?

After reading an article in The Economist about why the Japanese love their robots so much, it got me to thinking why the perception of robots in the west is so different.

Japan's population is aging while the number of newborns have sharply dropped. In short, the Japanese are learning how to make robots that can do many jobs to compensate for the lack of "young workers" in the future.

In western cultures, robots are often a threat, destined to take over the world if given too much power. In contrast, Japanese culture view robots as friendly and benign. They have always been enamored and portrayed robots in a positive light, ever since they created their first comic about a robot; Tetsuwan Atomu in 1951.

Some could say their position goes as far back as their approach to religious beliefs. Much of their beliefs rely on spiritual context infused with animism. They make no distinction between animate and inanimate objects. it is not uncommon to see Japanese Shamans bless a car, believing that the car is somehow alive and will act "better" if treated with respect.

Ironically, the Japanese aren't as comfortable around other people. It is impossible to embarrass a robot or be embarrassed. It is the robots predictability that the Japanese respond to. They can be sure that they'll never make a huge mistake on a robot.

A great example is the success of Sony's AIBO (robotic entertainment dog). American consumers tend to be tech geeks who have visions of hacking the dogs software programming. The Japanese consumers like AIBO because it's clean, safe, and predictable.

It will be fascinating to see what kind of robots America builds as they catch up to the Japanese robotics industry. I'm sure the geniuses at M.I.T. will come up with something that will make AIBO jealous. The question is will this robot serve to entertain us as AIBO does, or will it eschew entertainment altogether?