Of machines and men

Continuing improvements in computer technology are allowing machines to perform in ways that model human activity, to the extent that many people now treat machines as if they were people.  There is discussion of machine rights, moral machines, and even spiritual machines.  Why is this?  What is it about humans that causes them to endow mechanical artefacts with personhood?  Why, indeed, is there often an assumption that the machines will be malicious and turn on their human creators?

This talk will present some of the technology that allows machines to simulate human behaviour, and identify the clear distinctions that can still be drawn between machines and people.