The Blurring of the Boundaries between Humans and Robots is a Good Thing and a New Species would be Born: An Interview with Hiroshi Ishiguro

The documentary Philosophy in the Age of Desire records a short encounter between Hiroshi Ishiguro and Markus Gabriel in 2018. Their exchange on the role of technology in human life, on the conception of human being, and other topics revealed noticeable differences between the German philosopher and the Japanese engineer. Four years later two separate interviews follow up on their conversation. In this interview, Hiroshi Ishiguro makes several points: First, there is no clear definition of what a human being, intelligence, emotion, etc. is, so people can understand the meta-level of human beings by making robots, at least getting inspiration for understanding the complex human functions through the reaction of robots. Second, robots have crossed the “uncanny valley” in some situations. Third, the blurring of the boundaries between humans and robots is a good thing, then a new species would be born and people will accept them as human beings. Fourth, after the COVID-19 pandemic, robots that can be operated remotely will be utilized widely. In addition, regarding the roots of Japan’s robot culture, Hiroshi Ishiguro proposes the “Island Hypothesis.”