Friday, February 09, 2018
He Made a Robot... then Married It
Zheng Jiajia is an artificial intelligence expert from Japan. He was evidently unable to find a suitable mate (or could not find love) so he built a humanoid robot. And then married her, or it. Or whatever. He programmed his robot to speak some rudimentary sentences and has plans to upgrade her eventually so she can walk and do basic household chores. And the robot has a name -- Yingying. Or would that by Yingying Jiajia?
So what is the Christian response to this? Well ... nothing. I don't know the man so I am not sure I really can have any response to his specific decision.
But it does raise some questions for Christians to think about.
If someone creates something, is it whatever he wants it to be?
Can you actually marry a robot? They had a ceremony and everything, so who decides what a marriage is anyway?
Does he love her/it? Does that make the difference?
What makes a robot a her anyway? Can she choose her gender? Or does he? Can it change?
Is it OK because it makes him happy?
Our world is full of people (and cultures) that want to create their own reality. Their feelings and experiences determine what is acceptable. They set the rules and decide the morality of things.
I imagine some are laughing this off as some kind of joke. But think about the people you know who think that each person decides his or her reality. That truth is what you want it to be. And that the only thing that matters is what makes you happy.
I did a quick check of my Bible and did not find anything about robot spouses. But I did find quite a lot about God the Creator and about how he intends for us to live. What I found did not have to do with what I create to make me happy. It did have a lot to do with living the way God made us. That does lead to happiness.
So while I may want to laugh a little at this whole situation, I want to be very careful that I don't do the same kind of thing in my life. And I suspect their are a lot more Zheng Jiajia's in this world than we want to admit.
Life my or God's way. You can really only have one person in charge of life.
I choose God.
So what is the Christian response to this? Well ... nothing. I don't know the man so I am not sure I really can have any response to his specific decision.
But it does raise some questions for Christians to think about.
If someone creates something, is it whatever he wants it to be?
Can you actually marry a robot? They had a ceremony and everything, so who decides what a marriage is anyway?
Does he love her/it? Does that make the difference?
What makes a robot a her anyway? Can she choose her gender? Or does he? Can it change?
Is it OK because it makes him happy?
Our world is full of people (and cultures) that want to create their own reality. Their feelings and experiences determine what is acceptable. They set the rules and decide the morality of things.
I imagine some are laughing this off as some kind of joke. But think about the people you know who think that each person decides his or her reality. That truth is what you want it to be. And that the only thing that matters is what makes you happy.
I did a quick check of my Bible and did not find anything about robot spouses. But I did find quite a lot about God the Creator and about how he intends for us to live. What I found did not have to do with what I create to make me happy. It did have a lot to do with living the way God made us. That does lead to happiness.
So while I may want to laugh a little at this whole situation, I want to be very careful that I don't do the same kind of thing in my life. And I suspect their are a lot more Zheng Jiajia's in this world than we want to admit.
Life my or God's way. You can really only have one person in charge of life.
I choose God.
