Darwin

Intro:

Going into this project, the idea of a “protest object” originally stumped me. I had looked at most of the projects and labs on a very technical level. To create an object that served to complete a task that would fix a problem. But the protest object needed to be approached differently. I wasn’t going to create something to fix a problem, but rather to propose a problem.

What I mean isn’t to create a problem, but rather to create an object that would propose the possibility of an issue. Going into this, my mind wandered to the usual “protest” topics. Human rights, equality, etc. But during my brainstorming, and reviewing the rubric, I thought of something different to protest, and that came from the keyword “technological advancement” in the rubric.

My thought was this: the concept of AI technology. Think movies like: The Terminator. Games like Detroit become Human. Does AI have social agency? Can they grow smarter than people? Should they have the same rights as people? As a programmer, I view this stuff as “hoecky nonsense”, the work of fiction. They are machines and robots. But realistically, there could come a day when the topic of AI rights and computer sentience will be a debate. So I wanted to challenge myself. Though I view “AI Rights” as nonsense, I will try to change my own mind, or at the very least, create something that challenges my own conceptions.

Darwin:

Darwin will react negatively (Going down a light level) when shook and when detecting loud noises. Darwin reacts positively if in bright light and warm comfortable temperatures. If he switched is turned, he will also react positively to load noises.

Here is Darwin's levels:

Red - Very Negative

Pink - Negative

Blue - Neutral

Yellow - Happy

Green - Very Happy

Warm temperatures, clear bright skies, and noise when feeling sociable make Darwin happy, but being shaken around or loud noises when not in the mood make Darwin upset.

Final Thoughts:

By creating an object very similar and acting similar to people, Darwin explores the idea of sentient AI in the future. The ideas of AI having rights or sentience is the stuff of Sci-Fi, but Darwin is a look into "human-like" AI. He is named Darwin after Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution, and in a way, Darwin is what an early "ancestor" to sentient AI would look like. Darwin is made to promote thought and conversation about the role AI will have in the future.