# What can a human do that an android can't? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857 "2006-04-16T04:56:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/21 "2006-04-16T10:41:51Z")
Creative thinking. Intuition. Instinct for survival. A great love of fish. (Just Joking. šŸ˜ƒ ) ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/22 "2006-04-16T10:53:49Z")
Tell you about their mother. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/23 "2006-04-16T10:54:43Z")
Pee. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/24 "2006-04-16T12:06:10Z")
Ethics. Without a ā€˜conscienceā€™ I would see it difficult for androids to make ethical decisions beyond a choice of numbers: Case in point: Assuming your android can ā€˜eatā€™, it may steal the last slice of pizza, even though it knows that someone else didnā€™t get their last sliceā€“which is just plain wrong. Even worse, it may drink the last beer in the fridge at someone elseā€™ house. Go a little more real-world, and it may decide the best course of action is armed conflict even though diplomacy hasnā€™t had a chance to run itā€™s course yet. Tripler Come to think of it, I must hang around a lot of androids. Damned drunken robots!! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/25 "2006-04-16T16:00:27Z")
Perhaps humans are still needed as systems analysts and debuggers. That is, occasionally the AIs fall into recursive error loops in which they increasingly fail to recognize how faulty their thinking has become. (Think HAL in 2001). Maybe humans are still entrusted to hit the master ā€œRebootā€ switch; or failing that, go down to the main computer core with a stone ax. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/26 "2006-04-16T16:30:59Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > _hangs head_ I am ashamed. Well, _thereā€™s_ something John Q. Robot canā€™t do. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/27 "2006-04-16T16:32:44Z")
Well, unless itā€™s built in Japan, I add as an afterthought. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/28 "2006-04-16T17:36:41Z")
Safely walk between giant magnets. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/29 "2006-04-16T17:45:16Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > The law thing might work. Imagine a huge national problem with unemployed, out of work, homeless people cast adrift by the people who make cheap intelligent machines. A law is passed requiring companies have a certain # of humans per robot. A person who quits is still counted for a full year after he quits. Companies now hire people at the absolute minimum to spend all day moving rocks from one side of the building to another. Or counting sand. > > Maybe thatā€™s too silly for the story but the image of shabby people drudging back and forth completing these mindless tasks is kinda scary. And ironic. I was thinking about this earlier: Companies inundate the cheap labor market with so damn many, that the homeless here (and from other countries) start rallying for either better working conditions, or actually riot. Hell, they could even attempt a coup. Shoot, inundating the workplace with cheap labor would more or less stop the flow of immigrants from one place to another if thereā€™s no work there. . . Tripler Just a plot thought. . . ---
**Author:** ![Spidey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Spidey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spidey)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/30 "2006-04-16T17:51:41Z")
Sweat. It could be a really hot environment, and it would be too costly to provide air conditioning to keep the droids running smoothlyā€¦ but water is cheap, and the humans can work in there for hours on end. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/31 "2006-04-16T19:23:57Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > Pee. Darn, I was going to say that. ā€œDid you know that youā€™re leaking coolant at an alarming rate?ā€ But you didnā€™t say poo. I was gonna say just ā€œgo to the bathroom.ā€ Androids canā€™t pee _or_ poo. Or spit. Or blow their nose. Or masturbate. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/32 "2006-04-16T20:46:22Z")
So maybe youā€™re generous in your assumptions about AI, but I think the flexibility of the human mind in underappreciated in sci fi. since the body is self maintaining up to a point, and adaptable it might be economical to use us instead of building androids for each environment. novelty, will a well designed, ā€œsuccessfulā€ android ever be motivated to improve on anything? ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/33 "2006-04-16T21:02:38Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > will a well designed, ā€œsuccessfulā€ android ever be motivated to improve on anything? dare I say well adjusted? I think I dare ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/34 "2006-04-16T21:05:49Z")
Use contractions. šŸ†’ ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/35 "2006-04-16T21:18:06Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Perhaps humans are still needed as systems analysts and debuggers. That is, occasionally the AIs fall into recursive error loops in which they increasingly fail to recognize how faulty their thinking has become. (Think HAL in 2001). Maybe humans are still entrusted to hit the master ā€œRebootā€ switch; or failing that, go down to the main computer core with a stone ax. Thereā€™s no reason those safeguards canā€™t be programmed into the AI. You need to look at what humans have always used machines to do - boring, dangerous, tedious or quantitatively complex work. Extrapolating that out, future humans would probably spend most of their time pursuing creative or artistic work or trying to stave off boredom (which could be a central theme of your story). There does not need to be a ā€œpurposeā€ for humans to exist. They exist by default because they didnā€™t wipe themselves out. What you need to do think about why the humans need AI. AI does not and should not just take the form of a humanoid robot. It can take the form of a camera that automatically adjusts its settings or an iron that can adjust to the fabric. More advanced AI could augment medical, legal or business teams - providing analysis, advise and instant research while the humans do the actual decision making. Those AI might look more humanoid since they would be required to work closely with humans in their environment. And of course you would want to consider everything between human and pure AI - humans cybernetically or bionically enhanced to some degree. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/36 "2006-04-16T21:43:04Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > . . . future humans would probably spend most of their time pursuing creative or artistic work or trying to stave off boredom (which could be a central theme of your story). Are machines or AI devices capable of creative thinking or originality? Another way to look at it is to ask what humans do NOW, in the real world? Basically, they try to survive as best they can and better their lot. They would try to do the same in any scenario, no matter the surrounding circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/37 "2006-04-16T22:46:53Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > Safely walk between giant magnets. Hey, thatā€™s not a bad idea. Maybe the mines for unobtanium are subjected to severe magnetic stresses or some sort of electromagnetic interference or something. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/38 "2006-04-17T03:24:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Thereā€™s no reason those safeguards canā€™t be programmed into the AI. Actually, there is. Turingā€™s Theorem shows that a computer cannot, in general, tell when itā€™s gone into an infinite loop. There is much debate (a Great one, in fact) about whether this limitation also applies to human brains, but at the very least, one can say that itā€™s very difficult to send a human into an infinite loop. So the non-looping humans can break out the looping AIs. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/39 "2006-04-17T14:37:53Z")
Iā€™m with MrSmith: humans would be doing the interesting jobs that they want to do. Research (basic and applied), managing (the robot workforce and other human workers), teaching, making art, doing crafts (I think ā€˜handmadeā€™ would still be a valued tag), negotiating and doing political things, etc. I mean, few humans today are ditchdiggers weilding shovels on large construction projects ā€“ that job has already been automated. Even when backhoe drivers are automated, there will still be engineers overseeing the work, project managers, backhoe designers, backhoe salespeople, project permitting attorneys, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-a-human-do-that-an-android-cant/352857/40 "2006-04-17T15:42:21Z")
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