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from the what-happens-if-you-don't-welcome-your-new-robotic-overlords dept.
Atlas Obscura has an article on a robot programmed to perform Buddhist funeral rites.
What's the hottest new trend in robotics? It might be religion. Hot on the heels of Germany's Protestant-inspired automated blessing machine, BlessU-2, a Japanese company has unveiled a smiling automaton programmed to conduct Buddhist funerals.
Unveiled during the annual Life Ending Industry Expo in Tokyo, a funeral industry trade show, the little robot was presented by Nissei Eco Co. as an inexpensive alternative to hiring a flesh-and-blood monk. According to Reuters, the robot, a reprogrammed version of SoftBank Robotics' "Pepper" model of interactive humanoid automaton, can chant Buddhist sutras and beat a little drum to honor the dead. It can even livestream the service if needed.
Also at Reuters and The Guardian.
Youtube has a clip with the robot in action, which may give you nightmares. The robot in question is a reprogrammed SoftBank Robotics Pepper model. In related news it turns out Japan has a Life Ending Industry EXPO.
Once again Philip K Dick is proven right.
[Additional video clip by the New York Post. - Ed]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday August 25 2017, @03:35AM
A couple things here -- first, Buddhism and Buddhist funerals aren't particularly about any "deities" or much in the way of supernatural. I'm no expert, but my sense is that they are mostly part of a recognition of the cycle of life and death. Yes, there may be some concern about reincarnation wrapped up in that too, but the idea of death being part of the cycle of life certainly doesn't need any supernatural associations -- it's just the way the world works.
But the other thing is that, from a pragmatic perspective, death rituals are almost never so much about the "dead and deity" as they are about providing a ritualistic mourning for the living to deal with the psychology of grief. Yes, it can help many living folks to participate in something ritualistic, because it provides a certain kind of distance -- a recognition that this is just a "normal" event, with a prescribed ceremony, rather than the very personal loss (with accompanying unfettered and unstructured emotionality).
I used to be a musician who'd play for various events -- and I've been to lots of memorial services for atheists, and ones run by families composed of atheists. There's a common order of business generally, with remembrances, etc. Sometimes a candle gets lit or put out or some such thing... or whatever. Music often plays an important role.
The ritual, even if it's not "quite right" or traditional or whatever isn't about placating the souls of the dead or appeasing some deity for most people -- it's about the living getting through their grief. So, as someone who has attended scores of funerals and memorial services over the years, from all different traditions, I have definitely seen a lot of "improvisation" that feels vaguely ritualistic. So why not have a robot chant, if it's more convenient or a proper singer/monk isn't available or might be expensive... or whatever? You get to feel like you're doing something vaguely ritualistic, which is really the only point for most people.
Also, again I don't know much about the particular context for these robots culturally, but my sense from funerals is that they're really something most people never want to think much about. It's not like weddings or formal dances or grand birthday parties or graduation ceremonies or whatever other formal events that people spend a lot of time planning. They don't want to think about funerals, so they don't. And then they find themselves suddenly having to plan one in a few days for a loved one... so there's a lot more just trusting some funeral director (or, in my case, musician) to just "know what to do" and not force them to think too much about it. A lot of people just tend to avoid death rituals or knowing much about them. If you're stuck planning one for a loved one, and someone knowledgeable says, "Hey, have you heard about the cheap chanting funeral bot?" I'd bet a lot of families would just be like, "oh, if that's what people do now, it sounds fine..." To be frank, too, a lot of times families just want to find a cheap option -- there's a LOT of folks who die without close families who want to pay for a giant funeral service or something.
Oh, and I just actually looked at the Guardian article, and holy cow...
£20,000! Yeah, I'd definitely think a lot of folks would be willing to shave off a chunk of that. Especially when Aunt Tilly, whom no one in the family ever liked, passes on...