Dr. Etienne Augé commented on the current societal debate concerning robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Danish national television programme Deadline. He explained what humans can learn from science fiction about the future.
During the interview, Dr. Augé explained the link between science fiction and the future of society. As the science fiction genre is centred on the future, humans can learn a lot about possible futures by reading science fiction books or watching science fiction movies, even though science fiction should not be considered a prediction of the future. Dr. Augé described that the most important lesson humans can learn from science fiction is that decisions made in the present have consequences for the future. The science fiction genre therefore helps people understand the potential of humankind.
Robots
Dr. Augé pointed out that there is no doubt about whether robots will live with us; rather it is about when this will happen. Questions that were addressed during the interview are: How will robots interact with society? And what if robots take over people’s activities? Besides that, the –for many- scary question ‘What if robots will be smarter than us?’ was discussed. Dr. Augé concluded by stating that at this point in time, it is crucial for human beings to discuss the future. Science fiction helps us to do so.
The video can be found via this link. The interview with Etienne Augé starts at 23:05 minutes.