The application of rapidly advancing fields of software and hardware engineering and biotechnology to recreate life or intelligence raises ethical and social issues. There is an ethical responsibility on the part of the creator to ensure that the robot or virtual pet causes no harm. There is also the impact of new technology on society. On the one hand, replacing people with robots may reduce labour costs and contribute to unemployment in society, but new …showed first 75 words of 916 total…

…showed last 75 words of 916 total…the future is one dependent upon advances in technology. Though artificial intelligence presents the potential for opposition, e.g. the de Garis artilect war, more likely centers for conflict include biotechnology and genetic engineering. No technology exists in a vacuum. The more conceivable probability is that some convergence of these technologies will provoke discord. Is the robot the future of man, or the man of the future? The destinies of the two are inextricably linked.