Stephen Law

From my book The Philosophy Gym (see sidebar to the left) Kimberley and Emit The year is 2100. Kimberley Courahan has purchased Emit, a state-of-the-art robot. She has just unwrapped him, the packaging strewn across the dining room floor. Emit is designed to replicate the outward behaviour of a human being down to the last detail (except that he is rather more compliant and obedient). Emit responds to questions in much the same way humans do. Ask him how he feels and he will say he has had a tough day, has a slight headache, is sorry he broke that vase, and so on. Kimberley flips the switch at the back of Emit’s neck to “on”. Emit springs to life. Emit. Good afternoon. I’m Emit, your robotic helper and friend. Kimberley. Hi. Emit. How are you? Personally I feel pretty good. Little nervous about my first day, perhaps. But good. I’m looking forward to working with you. Kimberley. Now look, before you start doing housework, let’s get one thing straight....