Humanoid Robot Becomes Buddhist Monk In South Korea (smithsonianmag.com) 36
A four-foot humanoid robot named Gabi has become a monk at a Buddhist temple in Seoul, participating in a modified initiation ceremony where it pledged to respect life, obey humans, act peacefully toward other robots and objects. "Robots are destined to collaborate with humans in every field in the future," Hong Min-suk, a manager at the Jogye Order, the largest sect of Buddhism in South Korea, tells the New York Times. "It will only be natural for them to be part of our festival." Smithsonian Magazine reports: For the temple, this marks the first time a robot has participated in the sugye initiation ceremony, when followers pledge their devotion to the Buddha and his teachings. Gabi -- a Buddhist name that refers to mercy, Yonhap News Agency reports -- was made by Unitree Robotics, a Chinese civilian robotics company. The model, G1, retails starting at $13,500. During the ceremony, Gabi agreed to five vows usually recited by human monks and slightly altered for the humanoid. The robot pledged to respect life, act with peace toward other robots and objects, listen to humans, refrain from acting or speaking in a deceptive manner and save energy.
Gabi participated in a modified yeonbi purification ritual. While a human monk normally receives a small incense burn on the arm, instead Gabi received a lotus lantern festival sticker and a prayer bead necklace. The landmark event aligns with the promise made during a New Year's address by the Venerable Jinwoo, president of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, to incorporate artificial intelligence into the Buddhist tradition. "We aim to fearlessly lead the A.I. era and redirect its achievements toward the path of attaining peace of mind and enlightenment," he said, per a statement.
Gabi participated in a modified yeonbi purification ritual. While a human monk normally receives a small incense burn on the arm, instead Gabi received a lotus lantern festival sticker and a prayer bead necklace. The landmark event aligns with the promise made during a New Year's address by the Venerable Jinwoo, president of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, to incorporate artificial intelligence into the Buddhist tradition. "We aim to fearlessly lead the A.I. era and redirect its achievements toward the path of attaining peace of mind and enlightenment," he said, per a statement.
Fuckbot for your soul (Score:1)
Buddhism, really?
But the mind of robot is fully empty! (Score:2)
That's supposed to be the perfect state for Buddhist meditation and the path to true zen.
(But what's AC's excuse for possibly living that way? Or just another AI sock puppet?)
(And of course I'm reading another book on the topic. Oh wait, I see there are two of them. Maybe three?)
Re: (Score:2)
Dude, if you can find a copy of The Doomsday Book (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Book_(film)) the most powerful part of the anthology is basically exactly this. See also specifically https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
It's probably one of my top five favorite things in my video collection of speculative fiction.
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks for the tips. At first I thought you were referring to the 2023 book by Connie Willis. My local library system actually has two copies of that one and I'm going to take a look at it. (The library seems to think she's named Willis Connie?) Because of the date, it might be linked to the older movie?
I'm pretty sure there was also an old English book with a similar title, too, but your Wikipedia link is actually about a movie from Korea and I couldn't find any book reference there. Haven't seen the movie
calm down guys (Score:2)
But if one ever decides to be a ShaoLin monk, we must tell it that one of the requirements is it must be blind first. And remember the first rule: Go North, and seek out your master. He likes knock-knock jokes at the border.
Re: (Score:1)
But if one ever decides to be a ShaoLin monk
He'd just leave the same day though, being able to lift that burning cauldron with no pain ...
Artificial flavors (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Does a robot have the Buddha nature?
Also, are prayer wheels still effective if you hook them up to electric motors?
Electric Monk (Score:2)
Douglas Adams was a prophet. I hope the makers of the robot have given it reasonable protection against intrusive advertising.
Re: (Score:1)
I dislike the pretense (Score:4, Informative)
The robot didn't 'pledge' anything - it mindlessly followed a script. A pledge requires self-awareness and will, neither of which this device has.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Time is fun when you are having flies.
Its to get the tourists in (Score:3)
And more importantly - their money.
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah, this sounds like some kind of jaded Transhumanist humiliation ritual.
If true as written, those 'monks' are without honor or reverence.
The real question ... (Score:2)
Just an advertising stunt (Score:5, Informative)
If you read the NYT article (https://archive.ph/PkPbJ) it says;
'Gabi’s movements were remotely controlled from behind the scenes, Mr. Hong said. And he admitted that its words had been prerecorded.
“It was actually my voice,” Mr. Hong said. He said he had recorded Gabi’s words on his phone and sent it to the robot’s manufacturer before the event.'
And;
'The robot had only been loaned to the temple for the day, and had since been returned to its manufacturer.'
Re: (Score:2)
"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."
The more things change, the more they stay the same. - Some French guy.
Re:Just an advertising stunt (Score:5, Interesting)
Zen Buddhism claims that all things, including inanimate objects, possess Buddah-nature, meaning they are fundamentally "alive" in some sense. So, at least it's consistent for a Buddhist temple to initiate a robot.
Now, the fact that the robot was fed the lines -- even the voice -- and that it was on loan, does tend to detract from any message the temple was trying to convey.
Here's a direct link to the NYT article. [nytimes.com]
They should ask me (Score:2)
I'd built them thousands of meditating/praying stat,,,,I mean robots who ONLY do that, with eyes closed.
For only $ 9999.99
So they are into Animism now? (Score:2)
That is not a sign of insight into reality...
On the other hand, all those idiots thinking LLMs have consciousness are no better.
Re: (Score:2)
Zen Buddhism believes that all things have a Buddhist-nature, i.e., they are "alive" at least in some sense. So, Buddhism is quite compatible with Animism, though not the same. Buddhism is a spiritual and mental discipline that encourages adherents to strive for personal liberation, aka "Nirvana." Animism just holds that all objects contain "spirits" that can be exploited in one way or another.
As for people who treat LLMs as though they're "conscious" -- well, I'll give them a pass. I just asked Gemini what
When will a humanoid robot do something useful? (Score:2)
I see plenty of robots that can dance a jig, but when will it be able to do tasks that require some manual dexterity like assembling something (non-contrived) or doing sculpture?
Re: (Score:2)
There are plenty of robots that have significant manual dexterity, and can even do sculpture. See here, for example. [facebook.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Well, a humanoid robot would be able to put stuff together as long as it can understand the Ikea-style instructions.
But, typically, you wouldn't buy a humanoid robot just to put together your Ikea cabinets, I wouldn't think.
Robots building stuff in factories will be the only things in the factory soon enough... the control cabinets will be remotely accessible by the technicians, so that takes care of keeping it running... once a year, the techs go to the factory to top up the oil and grease on everything th
Re: When will a humanoid robot do something useful (Score:2)
Can it? It needs manually dexterity and sub-millimeter precise spatial positioning.
Re: (Score:2)
Pick-and-place machines do that all the time. Cheaper and faster than a room full of humans placing those half-grain-of-rice-sized parts on a motherboard. And, those have several cameras monitoring and reporting position and rotation all the time.
I can imagine how it goes (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Well, probably not, but someone did make a film (called The Doomsday Book) that had as one of its parts an artificially-intelligent robot called In-myung at a monastery that had discovered that it had reached enlightenment and could no longer continue. The film was an anthology in three parts and this was probably the most intense one of all because the 'bot was being interrogated as to their claims and dropping truth bombs the whole time. See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] and https://www.youtub [youtube.com]
If you're wondering about no incense burn (Score:2)
They didn't burn the robot's arm with incense because robots are deathly afraid of fire.
An Electric Monk sat on a bored horse. (Score:1)
Is it named Lobsang? (Score:1)
Overwach? (Score:2)
I hope it is more Zenyatta [fandom.com] and less Ramattra [fandom.com]