- "While a one-off natural language conversation in
MODULE 8 a specific context with a robot can feel realistic,
WHEN HUMANITY AND TECHNOLOGY CROSS
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this module, the students should be able
to:
1. Describe the different technological
advancement in Philippine society
2. Discuss the development of science and
technology in the Philippines
3. Reflect on how artificial intelligence and
robotics influence the ways we live
nowadays
Technological Advancements in the Philippines
- Modern technology has a big part in improving
people's way of living.
- The use of modern technology is in demand and
popular among people.
- Modern technology has made cooking and
transportation easier and more efficient.
- GRAB and UBER are the newest and most
modern means of transportation in the
Philippines.
- The advanced technology in communication is
very useful and necessary in daily life.
- Medical technology has become more advanced
and provides new treatments for illnesses and
diseases.
- Modern technology has made education more
easy and efficient.
Of Robots and Humans
- "robots are beginning to offer physical capabilities
and artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive abilities
beyond our expectations"
- "Together, these technologies could be harnessed
to help solve important challenges"
- "Our lives will likely be longer"
- "Our jobs will change dramatically"
- "The way we are educated will also change
radically"
- "how will we relate to each other in a civilization
that includes robots?"
- "Many of us wonder whether AI will become so
intelligent and capable in human communication
that the boundaries between human and artificial
beings will blur"
Smart Tricks
- "From an engineering perspective, these
advanced capabilities are still very far away."
- "A number of hurdles need to be overcome."
- "For now, robots and computers are completely
dependent on a power source – they require a lot
of electricity, and this complicates integrating
robotic elements with human organic tissue."
- "Another hurdle is the intricacy of human
communication."
engaging people verbally and non-verbally over
many conversations and contexts is quite another
matter."
- "However, in creating a more extended
relationship...the robot needs to have internal
goals, an extensive memory that relates
experiences to various contexts, and it needs to
develop these capabilities over time."
- "Through smart “tricks”, a robot can seem more
intelligent and capable than it is."
- "However, in order to sustain a meaningful
relationship which deepens and evolves over
time, an extensive artificial inner life will need to
be created."
How Machines Learn
- "A major hurdle in creating this rich artificial inner
life is the way machines learn."
- "Machine learning is example-based."
- "We feed the computer examples of the
phenomenon we want it to understand – for
instance, when people feel comfortable."
- "The computer uses machine learning to “reason”
from these labeled videos to identify important
features that correlate with feeling comfortable."
- "Eventually, the algorithm is robust and a
computer with a camera can recognize how
people feel with high, if not 100 per cent,
accuracy."
Towards A Complex Synthetic Profile
- "we need the agent to have a compelling
personality and behaviour, understand the
person, the situation in which they are both in,
and the history of their communication"
- "the agent would have to keep the communication
going across a variety of topics and situations"
- "It is possible to make a compelling agent, such
as Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri, that you can
speak to in natural language and have a
meaningful interaction with, within the specific
context of its use"
- "beyond that context of use, the communication
quickly breaks down."
- "In order for an artificial agent to take on such a
meaningful social role and develop a real
relationship with a person, it would need to have a
synthetic psychological, cultural, social and
emotional profile"
- "This requires a fundamentally different approach
to current machine learning"
- "An artificially intelligent system that develops
much like how the human brain develops, and
that can internalize the richness of human
experiences, is needed"
- "The envisioned and currently available models of
AI are inspired by the human brain or have
elements of how the brain works, but are not yet
plausible models of the human brain"
- "just like the English physicist Stephen Hawking
(1942-2018) said he had only scratched the
surface of understanding the universe, we are still
merely scratching the surface of understanding
human intelligence."
It Won’t Happen Tomorrow
- Robots and artificially intelligent systems will
enhance our decision-making and understanding
of situations.
- Robots can contribute to or autonomously carry
out labor.
- Robotics may be physically integrated into our
bodies.
- We will relate to artificial agents as we do to
humans.
- An extensive artificial inner life is needed for a
meaningful relationship.
- It is unlikely for artificial agents and people to be
totally integrated.
Robots in Protecting Environment
1. Robots Plant Trees
Climate change start ups tend to pick a
specific element of environmental harm and solve a
problem for it. For Mark Stewart, CEO of SkyGrow,
it’s planting trees. He developed his company to plant
more trees than we are cutting down — and not just in
remote forests like the Amazon. The team at
SkyGrow developed the Growbot, an unmanned
vehicle that plants trees 10 times faster than a human
can, at about half the cost.
Growbot plants established trees instead of
seeds, because established trees have a greater
chance of succeeding in their new location. Stewart
and his team plan to manufacture 4,500 Growbots,
helping forests recover everywhere.
2. Robots Help Farmers Survive Droughts
As our climate continues to change, it affects
our food sources. This is particularly true in poorer
countries and rural areas that can’t easily import food
from other regions. Using AI sensors and monitors,
robots can track the growth of plants and learn which
species survive  and thrive in harsh conditions. With
the help of this data analysis, farmers can choose
plants that have a greater chance of success, saving
their income while they feed the people around them.
3. Robots Can Grow Like Plants
Researchers at The Plantoid Project are
working to recreate the behavior and functions of
plants to study the natural environment.
They have realized the best way to study the
environment is to use the same methods plants use to
filter air, water, and other chemicals that they’re
exposed to. The robot plant they have developed
even has a mini 3D printer that helps the roots “grow,”
allowing researchers to explore the soil that plants are
exposed to.
4. Humanoid Robots Dive to the Bottom of the
Ocean
The team at Evolving Science recently profiled
Ocean One, a humanoid robot developed by the
Stanford Robotics Lab to explore the ocean and
collect samples as effectively as a diver.
Ocean One was originally developed to
monitor deep coral reefs in the Red Sea. These corals
are essential for a healthy ocean, but live far beyond
human range. Researchers needed a robot that could
collect samples without damaging the reef and
observe deep-sea specimens in their natural habitat.
Ocean One mimics a human SCUBA diver, complete
with arms, depth perception, and touch feedback, plus
it can survive significant depths. Since exploring the
Red Sea, the robot has traveled across the world,
helping us learn about the ocean without disrupting it.
5. Swarm Robots Collect Data
Interestingly, not all underwater robots are
humanoid, or even human-sized. Aquabotixis a
technology development company that creates
vehicles for underwater inspection. It specializes in
swarm robots, or multiple small robots that can be
controlled by one operator. As a whole, there are
multiple benefits to swarm robot submersibles. Swarm
robots cover more territory than one robot can. If
there is damage to individual units, the entire
research plan isn’t affected.It’s more affordable to
deploy a dozen swarm bots than one main robot
platform. In the field of marine biology, swarm robots
can collect more data and more diverse data than a
single robot (or even a varied team of researchers)
could. This makes the data more reliable and helps
scientists learn more about the ocean and how to
protect it.      
6. Robots Harvest Wave and Solar Energy
If we’re going to fight climate change, then we
will need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels like
oil. Developers are turning to robots to help collect
energy sustainably and use it across industries and
environments.
A great example is the Wave Glider by Liquid
Robotics. It looks like a surfboard and has built-in
solar panels, collecting solar energy as it moves along
the ocean surface. It uses the stored energy for
propulsion and to recharge the batteries needed for
its sensors.
Wave Glider’s applications include collecting high-
resolution carbon dioxide samples in difficult locations
for a complete picture of global climate change.
7. Robots Eat Water Pollution
The Permaculture Research Institute in
Australia recently covered the development of a
“Row-bot” developed by the University of Bristol that
digests pollution in the water and turns it into energy.
The robot swims around, ingesting microbes which
then power the boat’s motor. It’s really no different
than a whale shark filter feeding krill and using that
food energy to travel around the ocean.
According to Jonathan Rossiter, who hosted a
TED talk about these robots, this technology could
help reduce the impact of tankers that flush their oil
tanks into the sea and of chemicals that are washed
into rivers and wind up in the oceans.  and where we dump our waste. They can also impact
8. Robots Kill Invasive Species
Sometimes protecting the environment means
hunting invasive species that take over and harm
endangered plants and animals. One example of this
is the Crown-of-Thorns starfish on the Great Barrier
Reef in Australia. These coral-eating starfish can kill
off large swaths of reef, destroying the homes of
thousands of delicate species. Experts say this
starfish is a threat equal to climate change to the reef.
The team at Biopixel TV recently shared a solution to
these pests: the RangerBot. This robot finds and kills
the starfish with an eco-friendly injection, preventing
the starfish from doing further damage. The results
are staggering. Six human divers could only cover
half of the reef in a year, but six RangerBots can
cover the reef 14 times over the same period.
RangerBots also cost half the price of a human
expedition, operate day and night, and can collect
other measurements like temperature and salinity
while they work.
9. Robots Also Pick Up River Trash
Pollution comes in all forms, from oils and
other chemicals to plastic bags and straws. One
company, Urban Rivers, developed a trash robot for
the Chicago River. It floats along collecting garbage to
keep the waterway clean.
The robot came to be after Urban Rivers installed
1,500 square feet of floating wetland and urban
garden. They noticed trash kept getting caught in the
plants and sent someone out each day to pick it up.
The team realized the trash was only going to build,
and started developing a robot to help them clean up
the waterways. This robot keeps the plants trash-free
and prevents animals from accidentally ingesting the
waste.
10. Robots Make Recycling Easier
As more people recycle, there is added
pressure on humans to sort the materials and
determine what can be reused. This is highly manual
work, with people hunched over conveyor belts
grabbing items as fast as they can.
AMP Robotics hopes to make recycling easier. Its
robots use AI to “see” items on a conveyor belt and
record what they are. The robot can then sort the
materials and place them into designated bins.
This solution increases efficiency with higher
throughput and better bale quality. It also allows
users, whether cities or construction companies, to
budget more accurately with fixed labor rates.
11. Robots Climb Into the Sewers
Our sewer systems have a massive impact on
climate change, especially when you consider what
public health.
Tech writer Luke Dormehl at Digital
Trends showcases Luigi, a sewer robot developed by
MIT’s Underworlds project is operated with an iPhone
app, the robot studies bacteria and chemicals in
manholes. It is the first of a team of future sewer
samplers that will collect and analyze raw sewage
and send the data back to the lab. The robots, using
sampling instruments that upload data remotely (and
with plans for a real-time biochemical detection
platform in the works) will be able to collect more
samples much faster than their human counterparts,
who were limited to manually hauling liters of muck at
a time back to the lab.
12. Robots Reduce Carbon Emissions
Senior environment reporter Emily
Guerin at KPCC Southern California Public
Radiorecently discussed the rise of automated
equipment in the Port of Long Beach. While it is
adversely affecting union workers there, the impact on
climate change is good.This is because the new
equipment releases no emissions and greatly reduces
the pollution-causing tools and trucks needed to
operate the port. Guerin explains that heavy duty
diesel trucks are responsible for 150 tons of smog
emissions per day (compared to 80 tons for cars and
SUVs). If automation can reduce this number, the air
in Southern California has a chance of clearing up.  
13. Robots Reduce Personal Transportation
Emissions
Transportation has a significant impact on
climate change and carbon emissions. Alexandra
Gray at World Economic Forum reports that 23
percent of global energy-related CO 2 emissions are
caused by transportation.
Today’s innovators are not only developing electric
cars, but also better batteries that reduce the
environmental impact of all vehicles. In fact,
researchers at the University of Surrey are developing
an alternative to traditional battery power that is
1,000-10,000 times stronger than that used today,
allowing electric cars to travel similar distances to
those that use gas and to recharge in the time it takes
to fill up the tank.
14. Robots Send Environmental Alerts on Social
Media
Robots alone can’t save the planet. These
robots need humans who want to protect the natural
environment and the plants and animals that live in it.
The developers at Climate Reality recently
wrote a “Rapid Response Team” program which
sends messages to their Facebook fans whenever
there is news related to the fight against climate
change. Fans can opt in and then take action based
on the message. This might mean calling their local
representatives or donating to a cause to help clean
up after a disaster. Thousands of people can come
together with the help of a bot coded on Facebook
sending out alerts.
Lesson 10
The Philippine Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variety of different forms of life on
earth, including the different plants, animals, micro-
organisms, the genes they contain and the ecosystem
they form. It refers to genetic variation, ecosystem
variation, species variation (number of species) within
an area, biome or planet. Relative to the range of
habitats, biotic communities and ecological processes
in the biosphere, biodiversity is vital in a number of
ways including promoting the aesthetic value of the
natural environment, contribution to our material well-
being through utilitarian values by providing food,
fodder, fuel, timber and medicine.  years. Poaching and other forms of hunting for profit
The Philippines ranks fifth in the number of plant
species and maintains 5% of the world’s flora.
Species endemism is very high, covering at least 25
genera of plants and 49% of terrestrial wildlife, while
the country ranks fourth in bird endemism. The
Philippines is also one of the world’s biodiversity
hotspots with at least 700 threatened species, thus
making it one of the top global conservation areas.
The national list of threatened faunal species was
established in 2004 and includes 42 species of land
mammals, 127 species of birds, 24 species of reptiles
and 14 species of amphibians. In terms of fishes, the
Philippines counts at least 3,214 species, of which
about 121 are endemic and 76 threatened. In 2007,
an administrative order issued by the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources established a
national list of threatened plant species, indicating
that 99 species were critically endangered, 187 were
endangered, 176 vulnerable as well as 64 other
threatened species. This is also because the
Philippines continues to experience an alarming rate
of destruction of these important resources brought
about by overexploitation, deforestation, land
degradation, climate change, and pollution (including
biological pollution), among others.
 
Major Threats to Biodiversity
1. Climate change
Changes in climate throughout our planet's history
have, of course, altered life on Earth in the long run —
ecosystems have come and gone and species
routinely go extinct.
But rapid, manmade climate change speeds up the
process, without affording ecosystems and species
the time to adapt. For example, rising ocean
temperatures and diminishing Arctic sea ice affects
marine biodiversity and can shift vegetation zones,
having global implications. Overall, climate is a major
factor in the distribution of species across the globe;
climate change forces them to adjust. But many are
not able to cope, causing them to die out.
 
2. Deforestation and habitat loss
Deforestation is a direct cause of extinction and loss
of biodiversity. An estimated 18 million acres of forest
are lost each year, due in part to logging and other
human practices, destroying the ecosystems on which
many species depend.
Tropical rainforests in particular, such as the Amazon,
hold a high percentage of the world's known species,
yet the regions themselves are in decline due to
humans.
 
3. Overexploitation
Overhunting, overfishing and over-harvesting
contribute greatly to the loss of biodiversity, killing off
numerous species over the past several hundred
increase the risk of extinction; the extinction of an
apex predator — or, a predator at the top of a food
chain — can result in catastrophic consequences for
ecosystems.
 
4. Invasive species
The introduction of non-native species into an
ecosystem can threaten endemic wildlife (either as
predators or competing for resources), affect human
health and upset economies.
 
5. Pollution
From the burning of fossil fuels (releasing dangerous
chemicals into the atmosphere and, in some cases,
depleting ozone levels) to dumping 19 billion pounds
of plastic into the ocean every year, pollution
completely disrupts the Earth's ecosystems. While it
may not necessarily cause extinction, pollutants do
have the potential to influents species' habits.
For example, acid rain, which is typically caused by
the burning of fossil fuels, can acidify smaller bodies
of water and soil, negatively affecting the species that
live there by changing breeding and feeding habits.
 
Human Health, Environment and Society
The impact of environmental risk factors on health are
extremely varied and complex in both severity and
clinical significance. For example, the effects of
environmental degradation on human health can
range from death caused by cancer due to air
pollution to psychological problems resulting from
noise. This chapter attempts to describe the major
impacts on human health of environmental
degradation and to estimate the associated amount of
health loss. A better understanding of the economic
costs of environment-related health loss can help to
inform environmental policy design.
All organisms depend on their environments for
energy and materials needed to sustain life: clean air,
potable water, nutritious food, and safe places to live.
For most of human history, increases in longevity
were due to improved access to these necessities.   Many of the issues at the intersection of health and
Advances in agriculture, sanitation, water treatment,
and hygiene have had a far greater impact on human
health than medical technology.
Although the environment sustains human life, it can
also cause diseases. Lack of basic necessities is a
significant cause of human mortality.  Environmental
hazards increase the risk of cancer, heart disease,
asthma, and many other illnesses. These hazards can
be physical, such as pollution, toxic chemicals, and
food contaminants, or they can be social, such as
dangerous work, poor housing conditions, urban
sprawl, and poverty.
Most environmental health problems are linked to
poverty. They typically include those environmental
hazards posed by biological agents, exacerbated by
poor sanitation, lack of safe water, smoky kitchens,
and crowded dwellings in garbage-strewn
neighborhoods. With increased economic
development, many of these problems are resolved,
by way of higher quality housing and societal services
to households.
On the other hand, other environmental hazards are
associated with economic development in itself, rather
than the lack of it. These include many chemical
pollutants that are hazardous to both human and
ecosystem health.
These seemingly contradictory health outcomes of
economic development follow logic of environmental
displacement. While wealthy societies consume more
resources and produce more waste, they also use
their wealth to protect themselves from personal
exposure to harmful or unpleasant pollutants. Thus,
by pushing environmental problems away from the
living environment, health gains can be achieved,
although often at the expense of environmental insults
at a distance.
By contrast, activities that promote health and extend
human life can have adverse environmental effects.
For example, food production causes environmental
damage from pesticides and fertilizers, soil
salinization, waste produced by livestock, carbon
emissions from food manufacturing and
transportation, deforestation, and over-fishing. Health
care facilities also have adverse environmental
impacts. Hospitals use large quantities of electricity
and fossil fuels and produce medical wastes. To
prevent some diseases, it may be necessary to
damage the environment. For example, malaria was
eradicated in the United States and other developed
nations in the 1940s and 50s as a result of draining
wetlands and spraying DDT to kill mosquitoes. A
reduction in mortality from starvation or disease can
lead to overpopulation, which stresses the
environment in much different ways–increasing use of
fossil fuels, clearing of land, generating pollution and
waste, and so on.
 
Managing benefits and risks
the environment have to do with managing benefits
and risks. For example, pesticides play an important
role in increasing crop yields, but they can also pose
hazards to human health and the environment.
Alternatives to pesticide use create trade-offs in
health. The extreme action of stopping all pesticide
uses could significantly reduce agricultural
productivity, leading to food shortages and increased
food prices, which would, in turn, increase starvation
in some parts of the world. Public health authorities
have opted to regulate the use of pesticides to
enhance food production while minimizing damage to
the environment and human health. Energy
production and use helps sustain human life, but it
can also pose hazards to human health and the
environment, such as air and water pollution, oil spills,
and destruction of habitats.
No issue demands greater care in balancing benefits
and risks than global warming. A significant
percentage of global climate change is due to the
human production of greenhouse gases. Climate
change is likely to cause tremendous harm to the
environment and human health, but taking steps to
drastically reduce greenhouse gases could have
adverse consequences for global, national, and local
economies, which would result in a general decline in
human health and health care. For example, greatly
increasing taxes on fossil fuels would encourage
greater fuel efficiency and lower carbon dioxide
emissions, but it would also increase the price of
transportation, which would lead to widespread
inflation and reduced consumer spending power.
Social Justice
Managing benefits and risks raises social justice
concerns. In general, people with lower
socioeconomic status have greater exposure to
certain detrimental environmental conditions in their
homes or at work, such as lead, mercury, pesticides,
toxic chemicals, or air and water pollution.
Communities and nations should minimize such
injustices when making decisions such as choosing a
site for a factory, a power plant, or waste dump, or
regulating safety in the workplace. The decision-
making process should be fair, open, and democratic,
so that people who will be affected by environmental
risks have a voice in these deliberations and can
make their concerns known.
When drafting and implementing environmental health
regulations, it is important to consider vulnerable
subpopulations. A vulnerable subpopulation is a
group with an increased susceptibility to the adverse
effects of an environmental risk factor, due to their
age, genetics, health status, or some other condition.
For example, children are more susceptible to the
effects of lead, mercury, and some pesticides than
adults. Some people have a genetic mutation that
increases their susceptibility to cancer caused by
passive smoking.
If an environmental regulation is designed to protect
average members of the population it may fail to
adequately protect vulnerable subpopulations. Justice
demands that we take care of people who are
vulnerable. Social justice must be a factor in
allocating resources for health care. Governments
spend billions of dollars trying to improve the health of
citizens and prevent diseases. These funds go to
biomedical research, overseeing the safety of foods
and drugs, enforcing environmental or occupational
health regulations, and running programs for disaster
preparedness, public health, health education,
sanitation, water treatment, and so on.
 
Human Rights
Various public health strategies pit the rights of
individuals against the good of society, such as
mandatory treatment, vaccination, or diagnostic
testing; isolation and quarantine; and disease
surveillance. The main argument for these public
health strategies is that individual human rights may
have to be limited to prevent the transmission of
infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, SARS,
HIV/AIDS, and pneumonia. But restrictions on rights
should be well thought-out and safeguards put in
place to prevent public health authorities from
overstepping their bounds. Protecting the public’s
health should not come at the expense of human
rights.