How humanoid robots will save the astronauts of loneliness
Many science fiction novels dealing with journeys in the distant solar system, beyond the moon, show scenes of astronauts chatting with an artificial, sometimes humanoid intelligence, sometimes in the sole form of a conversation on screen or vocal synthesizer. But what would have become co -op without the help of tars in Interstellaror Bowman and Poole in 2001, the space of space (Ok, bad example …)?
Matthieu Guitton, researcher at Cervo Brain Research Center in Quebec (Canada) and editor -in -chief of the journal Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans,, propose in an article that mental problems linked to the isolation of astronauts and induced by long space trips can be minimized thanks to the conversational intelligence of humanoid robots.
Many studies have revealed that the psychological aspect is a determining factor during explorations inhabited in space. The body is subject to constant stress there, whether by cosmic radiation or Same conditions of life in impossor. From then on, mental faculties are affected. In this type of missions, a bad decision caused by a deteriorated psychological state can have catastrophic consequences.
Nothing new under the sun: social interactions are a means of retaining better mental health, but the crews of astronauts are reduced for resources – each kilogram to keep them alive is very expensive. A humanoid robot, it only “consumes” the fuel necessary to transport its weight in the rocket and the spaceship, it needs neither air nor food. This is one of the reasons why robots and rovers are widely used in space exploration.
Space-psychologists: early detection and ethical dilemmas
Dr. Guitton thinks that among our standard social interactions, the fact of sitting down and talking to someone occupies an important place and that a simple cat with a disembodied AI would not have the same impact on us. He details in his article why the embodiment of an artificial intelligence in a body would change his perception by the crew and increase the quality of his interactions. Thus, having a subjected body subjected for example to gravity would allow us to better project ourselves emotionally in him.
These so -called social robots could also have medical functions and help detect mental alteration within the crew of astronauts, even if the author raises ethical questions here. He also noted that their acceptance in the world of space exploration would be much more obvious than in our everyday social life. Indeed, robots are already an integral part of the number of space missions, to various degrees and in various forms, such as Perseverance and Curiosity on Mars. We know that Elon Musk, boss of SpaceX, already evokes his desire to send as the first Martian crews Optimus humanoids of her other firm, Tesla.
Social robots would therefore be for this researcher “Spatial exploration partners rather than simple tools”.
