O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is!
O brave new world,
That has such people in’t! -Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, Scene 1
It was from this hopeful Shakespeare quote that writer Aldous Huxley drew the title for his terrifying novel of human degradation, Brave New World (1932). In the novel, the human spirit is challenged. What makes us human? Do we need humanity? …
The question echoes even louder today. Continuing advances in medical and computer technology raise questions that strike at the heart of our humanity. Could a robot be created to replicate a human being in every respect?
Before you dismiss this question out of hand, consider what could be done in the foreseeable future. It is possible to envision the day when virtually every physical element of the human body might be artificially created, from our skin, bones, flesh and eyes, down to our hearts (already possible.) The copying the physical body – even without cloning, is now imaginable.
What about thnking? Robots can already be programmed to perform many aspects of our brain function. Computers already execute many analytical tasks far more effectively than humans. They can analyze, calculate, and mimic the expression of human feeling.
What is left? What about the soul? What about love? Isn’t love the most distinguishing element of our humanity?
I asked a Harvard scientist, an expert in endocrinology, this question. “For me,” she said, “love is something you do.”
“Something you do?” I repeated.
“But what about the feeling and intention that underlies loving behavior?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she replied.
Her response, including her uncertainty about the role of feeling, chilled me. I know this woman well and know her to be a loving, kind and caring human being. Does she think a robot could be manufactured that could do just as well? Every part of my humanity rejects this proposition. Is this just human egocentrism? I hope not.
First, I believe we have souls – the spirit of God that lives within us cannot be concocted by any scientist. Second, I believe humanity is unique to our very being. Third, I believe human courage is unique. Fourth, the human capacity to love – and the thoughts that generate love – cannot be replicated.
Robots can be developed that would perform transactional tasks better than humans. This is, in fact, often a good use for humans. And robots can also be programmed to mimic some of the doing aspects of what looks like loving behavior.
A recent news story profiled new Japanese robots that have been programmed to offer affectionate sounds in ways that are comforting to the addled elderly. Frighteningly, these pets were developed because of a decline in the commitment of younger people to visit their elders. And now, some would say, why bother to visit granny if a robot can perform this task for them?
But the human spirit, and human feeling, by definition, can never appear in something mechanical. The best a robot can do is mimic human actions, not the feeling that generates them.
By definitioin, a robot can never establish a human relationship with a human. A robot can never develop the ability to love a human. A robot can never be a child of God.
For me, that’s the essence of the answer. It is the basis of Radical Loving Care and the notion of the Sacred Encounter. What a human being seeks, in their darkest hours, is not programmed words of comfort from a robot, but human presence – the knowing that the individual before him or her truly cares. Human companionship is the only remaining defense against the loneliness and potential isolation of illness. That is the greatest meaning caregivers may draw from the sacred nature of their work. That only they, as a compassionate person, can offer the most unique of human expressions – love. Love is God’s gift, not a creation of science.
I hope I’m right. God help us if I’m not.
-Erie Chapman
Journal of Sacred Work 
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