RE: Don't Be Afraid Of The Robotic Invasion
Robots themselves aren't necessarily bad. Using them as tools of political control and oppression is bad.
People, in general, are ill-adapted to the current complexity of technology and are looking for help from political leaders who claim they are going to protect them. This is undermining self-determination because the politician "savior" class is generally spouting Orwellian nonsense for their own benefit and not the benefit of the general public.
Blaming the robot is like blaming the nuke or blaming the gun.
As far as AI is concerned (AI is not robotics), all human logic is predicated on assumptions of value. For example, the pro and anti abortion argument is based on value of human life or the value of a fetus and the arguments fall out from the initial assumption. AI can only act logically based on whatever values the programmers give it. AI can not determine value (on which ethics and morals are predicated) by itself.
You mention the use of technology as a form of political oppression. That is a serious fear, and the way I see it, this is happening the most with the lack of technical education in public schools.
The fact that kids are coming out of school without the ability to code is beyond insane to me. Kids should be tested at LEAST as much about JavaScript as they are about the Revolutionary War, or mitochondria, or the mile under 8 minutes. Kids should be taught how to code, design, and market technology. But instead they are coming out with a battery of knowledge that they forget within a year (if they don't continue to use it) which is mostly useless.
Anyway lol, that's another issue, perhaps.
Interesting thoughts on value. I'll have to mull that one around for a while.