Is it possible to feel sympathy for a modern robot?

[thetonewrecker]

Creepy as fuckin' hell. The skinny fly legs just running along. It's amazing with the displays of balance and dexterity, but there's something very "Silent Hillish" about the jerky movements and motor noise.

Can you imagine just letting that run into a campground at night. damn.

[metalmariachi]

It’s like Star Wars meets Vincent Price.
I can’t believe how well it recovered on the ice, but still wished I had a big fly swatter.
It just needed Sarah Michel Geller and Jennifer Love Hewitt running in high heels to make it perfect.

Keith

[pablo9000]

I'm feeling "irrational" sympathy for the 'bot. Just wait till they give it a brain, we'll see who is kicking who...

Somewhere in the distance a Jagger-clone is keening "...I'll never be, your beast of burden..."

bleep-bloop!

[masked elwood]

hmmmmm... pretty kool. ... i'd give it a big hug.

it's all fun until Line 6 comes up with the version that plays guitar.

elwd

[basti moon]

Sometimes we have to kick our human friends too, to test their abilities to walk.

Sympathy tied to personal feelings can go toward anything we want to, right? But sympathy tied to ethics (objectivity?) is about living things, like a furry cat.

[felix]

Wow, my first emotional reaction is fucking amazement! That was incredibly impressive!

I did have some sadness sympathy towards it, particularly when it was slipping on the ice (for some reason, the guy kicking the robot didn't elicit sympathy as much).

I'm guessing the general thought behind this post is "could you feel the same feelings toward a robot dog as you would a real dog". My answer to that would be yes. The more alike the robot dog was in behavior to a real dog, the more alike my feelings would be...even if I knew that it was a robot.

[Antero]

Heck, you can feel sympathy for a teddy bear. Our emotional wiring is very wide-ranging, and apophenia is more a rule than an exception...

[Caesar]

If it's this, then yes.

[aen]

I was totally cool with it until I saw DARPA. I PLAYED METAL GEAR SOLID, YOU FUCKERS! I KONW WHAT YOURE UP TO!

[Caesar]

I was totally cool with it until I saw DARPA. I PLAYED METAL GEAR SOLID, YOU FUCKERS! I KONW WHAT YOURE UP TO!

But the Internet was made by DARPA.

[aen]

PROOF!