Robotic Love

 

 

Is a Robot capable of love?

That is the question I ask,

Can man in all his brilliance

Ever achieve this task?

 

I say a resounding “No!”

Love is beyond man’s creativity,

It is not a material attribute

It is a divine facility.

 

Science has no explanation

For the feeling we call love,

It is a grace that we’ve been given

From the very God above.

 

It separates us from robots

However marvelous robots be,

They are incapable of love

And this is not difficult to see.

 

Robots follow commands

Built into their circuitry

Via an array of off and on switches

Of immense complexity.

 

 

Love is not programmable

Even though tears may be,

Laughter too may be programmed

But not emotionally.

 

Heart and brain are material

But not affection or the mind,

Robots are all together material

Whatever we may opine.

 

Intelligence is immaterial

And goes far beyond commands,

So too love and emotional affection

Requires a mind to understand.

 

“But a robot has a mind

And a rather complex one at that.

It’s in its sophisticated circuitry

And that’s a scientific fact.”

 

Sounds rather impressive

But is that really a fact?

Whence came its independent mind?

Can you please answer that?

 

Of what is its mind made?

Of circuitry, nuts and bolts

Triggered by an electric current

And that is its life in volts.

 

Check the human mind!

Of circuitry? Yes!

But of nuts and bolts and other stuff?

No such material mess.

 

Love is of the immaterial:

So are the heart and mind of man,

No such occurrence in a robot

That’s made by human hand.

 

 

I do not care how sophisticated

A robot’s material circuitry,

It is not capable of love

And it never will be.

 

God did not make robots

And I can see the reason why,

They are incapable of love

And God is love; that’s why.

 

Man is not a love source

Hence love he cannot impart,

But he can show it by his actions

And experience it in his heart.

 

It is ludicrous to believe

A robot is capable of love

When all of its action is electric driven

And naught of the God of love.

 

Robotic love is unreal

As unreal as “Big Bang” can be,

A misnomer, if you see what I mean,

Like an unreal reality.

 

Stewart Russell © March 24, 2022    

Feelings

I want to approach this matter

From the way that I should feel

Since I have no feelings at all:

Neither selflessness nor greed.

Note these two characteristics

That determine the behavior of man,

Neither of the two, you see,

Was in my creator’s plan.

Which brings me to who I am

Let me introduce myself,

For I have no desire for anything

Neither power nor wealth.

My name is Number One

And I was created by a man,

Quite a lot was put into me

Based on his avaricious plan.

I was tested in all kinds of ways

And every test I passed,

I can answer any question

My knowledge base is vast.

I can do all kinds of things

I can even repair myself,

I do not depend on my creator

To maintain my perfect health.

Many a backup I have

Even down to my extra battery

But emotions, I have none,

Not even to be sorry.

I feel neither selflessness nor greed

These two will drive a man,

But I am just a complex robot

These are not a part of my plan.

“That is another level,”

I have oft heard my creator say

But as to how he would actually do it,

He seems to have no way.

I can be programmed to destroy

Without batting an eyelid

Or I can be made to repair

Depending on what my master bids.

I don’t feel tired and worn out

I don’t worry and fret

Even though I work and work and work

And have not received a penny yet.

And I don’t even expect to

Given the nature of man,

For the one who created me

Intends to get all that he can.

My creator thinks only of himself

He spares not a single thought for me

Other than to make sure

I can do his bidding exactly.

I know I am beginning to sound

Like I have developed feelings,

But I am just stating the facts

No use you start believing.

Because of my vast knowledge base

I know that that is impossible

Since the one who created feelings

Is the one that created people.

I have a Bible on board

I can repeat chapter, verse and word,

There is only one supreme intelligence

It’s He that created this world.

People have a special facility

That allows them to love and hate,

Again I have cited two extremes

To which humans can relate.

Feelings is part of the design

It’s in the DNA of a man,

At the end of the day I’m just a robot

I operate strictly by commands.

  

I stick to my binary system

Re my switches: yes and no

And it is from that simple operation

That all my decisions flow.

By pure observation I have detected

That man is far more complex

He too has a binary system

Which he has chosen to reject.

Based on his complex feelings

He has jettisoned male and female

For a myriad of genders

Now too many to be detailed.

So I am just a simple robot

Number One is my name,

And the day I develop a single feeling

Is the day I become insane.

Stewart Russell © November 2019