Free Argumentative Essays: Humans Vs. Robots

Humans Vs. Robots

To say that there is a definite side to these arguments would be naive. There are many arguments in support of both sides, but I believe that there are more advantages in human lead missions supplemented by robots rather than fully robotic missions. Recently there have been many advancements made in reducing the price of sending rockets into space. Particularly, Elon Musk who, through SpaceX, has significantly reduced the cost of sending rockets into space and he is continuing to make them more and more efficient and affordable.[1] This brings us to one of the main arguments against humans: the cost. There are many things to consider other than just the humans themselves, but also food, water and other resources and technology

We have not yet perfected true AI (we are far off from even AGI which would still not have the instinct and ingenuity of a human)[2], so our best option at this point is affordable space flight. Humans are able to process the incoming information and make a split second decision, as well as act on instinct. The people who would be chosen for these missions would be very intelligent and able to alter a mission parameter if they encounter something that was not originally accounted for. If humans were on site they would be able to reprogram or repurpose the robots to fit the new mold of the mission. In which case it reaffirms my statement: ideally there are robots and humans working together. Historically, explorers make use of what they have and if they do not have what they need, they search and build or design what they need. Now we are in the age where we can reprogram and alter machinery to do these things for us. And because we have not yet made significant advancements on being able to more efficiently communicate with the robots we have farther than the moon, it makes more sense to have people on site. A robot can communicate with a human that is within a closer range, like on planet or in orbit, much quicker than it can with a human on another planet. It can take up to 15 minutes to communicate with the

There is currently no excitement from the community for space exploration, especially since the science behind it does not seem to have gotten much more advanced. However, just recently, SpaceX launched their Falcon 9 (in December) that returned its first stage booster upright and it got people talking. SpaceX is currently contracted by NASA to take supplies up to the International Space Station, and because of this upright rocket, they are able to reuse some of the parts of the rockets to save time and money.[4] With this amount of forward advancement in just the decade and a half since SpaceX was founded, the probability that we could see sending humans safely in and out of orbit by being able to landing upright within the next decade is