Can A Robot ever be your friend?

If you were to embark on a journey through a Science Fiction novel, how would you portray the relationship between robots and humanity? Would they be depicted as adversaries or allies? Can robots even be capable of friendship? Well, let's explore these questions together.

First, let's delve into the significance of having friends in our lives and why friendship is crucial for us as human beings. It has been repeatedly proven that romantic relationships not only enhance our well-being but also contribute to our longevity. In fact, friendships, which have historically been undervalued compared to romantic and familial relationships, have now been recognized as equally valuable. Friendships have a profound impact on our mental and physical health. Engaging socially often leads to increased physical activity, and studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging have shown that interactions with friends activate reward-related brain regions, such as the striatum. Additionally, research has demonstrated that when given the opportunity to share money, people's reward centers are most active when they choose to share with a friend rather than with a disliked, neutral, or unfamiliar individual. Individuals with strong connections to their friends tend to lead longer and healthier lives, as if they are constantly being rewarded.

Let's delve deeper into the specific health benefits that valuable friendships provide. Firstly, having friends reduces the risk of hypertension. Moreover, friendships contribute to better sleep quality and faster healing. Interestingly, having a diverse social network may even enhance your ability to ward off illnesses like the common cold. On the other hand, spending time alone involuntarily can negatively affect your health by altering the behavior of your white blood cells, leading to increased inflammation and a weakened immune response. Friendships not only impact physical health but also significantly influence mental well-being. Research suggests that the time spent with friends can shape how our brains process social rejection, with those who spend more time with friends exhibiting less sensitivity to social exclusion.

Now, let's consider the role of robots in this context. In the future, our friendships may not be limited to interactions solely with living beings. We might explore the concept of human-robot friendships. To understand the potential for such friendships, we need to grasp the basics of Robotics. While most people are familiar with the concept of robots, it is essential to distinguish them as a distinct entity from other types of machines. Unlike conventional machines, robots interact with the world through their actions. They possess the ability to adapt, make changes to their environment, respond to stimuli, and independently sense, reason, plan, and act. Additionally, robots can mimic human actions, extend human capabilities, and perform tasks autonomously. Traditionally, Robotics has focused on creating robots for simple or repetitive tasks and hazardous conditions. However, advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence have increased human-robot interactions significantly. Projections suggest that by 2030, the number of robots worldwide could reach 20 million, meaning we will inevitably encounter robots more frequently in our daily lives, requiring us to interact with them in various ways.

But does this imply that we can develop genuine friendships with robots? If so, can our robot friends provide the same physical and mental health benefits as our human friends? Currently, there are robots capable of performing intelligent tasks, adjusting their responses to individuals, and self-organizing without direct human input. Examples include prosthetic arms that learn and adapt to the needs of their wearers, physical therapy robots that assess individual requirements and provide tailored assistance, and swarm robots that collaborate and organize autonomously to fulfill tasks. These advancements in Robotics demonstrate that robots can indeed be companions, capable of addressing our social connection needs, providing physical comfort, emotional support, and enjoyable social interactions. They neither reject nor judge us. Some argue that robots lack understanding and empathy, but it is not necessarily a requirement for them to fulfill the role of a companion.