Quote from: LarsVader on Apr 17, 2012, 02:34:48 PM
Him appearing/reacting emotional doesn't necesserly mean that he does feel emotions.
I always found this (the unemotional android) to be a completely ridiculous "trope" that has been sustained in the sci-fi genre. We are expected to believe that basically every characteristic of human consciousness is realized in these futuristic, advanced Artificial Intelligences:
Cognition
Self-awareness
Self-reflection
Introspection
Intentionality
Perceptual recognition and awareness that other beings are also individual, conscious agents
Empathy
Yet, for no good reason (except that it helps the narrative), A.I. / androids in sci-fi are generally denied the ability to experience internal emotional states. Why? My guess is that this is the easiest and simpliest way for sci-fi writers to represent a clear distinction between the android character and the human character. It is a simplistic literary crutch to signify the "Other".
However, an A.I. intelligence that features all the attributes (see list above) of human consciousness, IMHO would also be expected to "feel" and perceive different internal emotional states. The denial of emotion is especially problematic when the A.I. clearly exhibits both empathy and the recognition of consciousness in others.
Of course, the simple resolution to this question is to sweep the issue under the proverbial rug, with the explanation that the A.I. programming somehow prevents or precludes emotional states. Another similar argument is that the A.I. is constrained by some hypothetical emotional inhibitor. Yet, IMHO, this is an entirely unsatisfactory resolution. In some sense, a fully conscious A.I. has to operate beyond (or transcend) any deterministic "program"...otherwise it couldn't be considered truly conscious.