Alanna Ketler –  These days, robots are being developed with some absolutely amazing technology. Indeed, robotics technology has become so impressive that the notion of the whole Terminator scenario (robots taking control of the human race) becoming our reality is starting to seem a lot less far-fetched. Not only are they beginning to look incredibly realistic, they are starting to develop the capacity to think for themselves as well.

A prime example of these new and improved robots is an android that was created by roboticist David Hanson; this android closely resembles the late, great science fiction writer, Philip K. Dick, the author of many popular films including: Bladerunner, Totall Recall, Minority Report, and Paycheck.

So Who Exactly Is This Robot?

The “brain” of this android (that is appropriately named Android Dick) is comprised of the deceased author’s work and conversations that he has had with other writers, all of which were uploaded onto the android’s software. As a result, if the android was asked a question that had been posed to the real Dick, he would answer the question as Dick would. The robot was also successfully able to answer a series of complex questions, and if asked a question that it had not previously been faced with, it would use something called latent semantic analysis to attempt to figure it out. This process is a mathematical technique that makes it possible for the android to index, retrieve, and extract meaning from the natural human language.

Check out this interview with a reporter from PBS Nova to see Android Dick in action. Continue reading →