The New Breed: On Robots and Animals
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- Create Date：2021-06-26 08:52:03
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Kate Darling
- ISBN：0241352991
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Summary
The robots are here。 They make our cars， they deliver fast food， they mine the sea floor。 And in the near-future their presence will increasingly enter our homes and workplaces - making human-robot interaction a frequent， everyday occurrence。 What will this future look like？ What will define the relationship between humans and robots？
Here Kate Darling， a world-renowned expert in robot ethics， shows that in order to understand the new robot world， we must first move beyond the idea that this technology will be something like us。 Instead， she argues， we should look to our relationship with animals。 Just as we have harnessed the power of animals to aid us in war and work， so too will robots supplement - rather than replace - our own skills and abilities。
A deeply original analysis of our technological future and the ethical dilemmas that await us， The New Breed explains how the treatment of machines can reveal a new understanding of our own history， our own systems and how we relate - not just to non-humans， but also to each other。
Here Kate Darling， a world-renowned expert in robot ethics， shows that in order to understand the new robot world， we must first move beyond the idea that this technology will be something like us。 Instead， she argues， we should look to our relationship with animals。 Just as we have harnessed the power of animals to aid us in war and work， so too will robots supplement - rather than replace - our own skills and abilities。
A deeply original analysis of our technological future and the ethical dilemmas that await us， The New Breed explains how the treatment of machines can reveal a new understanding of our own history， our own systems and how we relate - not just to non-humans， but also to each other。
Reviews
Kathleen
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This book linking the history of our relationships with animals to our future with robots was surprisingly entertaining and illuminating。 Recommended。
A
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Really interesting read， albeit repetitive。 Could have been shorter。
Stacie
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Fascinating read about the parallels between animals and robots。
winnie Jackson
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just got my free copy today。 hooray！ will let you know what I think。 blessings ;）
Chris Boutté
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This book is so damn good， it makes me sick。 Although， I’ve been a computer nerd my whole life and love technology， I have little to no interest in robots or AI （Which is weird because as a kid， my dream was to go to MIT， so maybe I’m resentful because I realized how it was near impossible to fulfill that dream）。 So， when I saw this book recommended by another author I love， I left a reply on Twitter explaining that this topic isn’t really my thing。 Then， after the author replied to my tweet （an This book is so damn good， it makes me sick。 Although， I’ve been a computer nerd my whole life and love technology， I have little to no interest in robots or AI （Which is weird because as a kid， my dream was to go to MIT， so maybe I’m resentful because I realized how it was near impossible to fulfill that dream）。 So， when I saw this book recommended by another author I love， I left a reply on Twitter explaining that this topic isn’t really my thing。 Then， after the author replied to my tweet （and this is surprisingly rare）， I read the description and decided to give it a try because it mentioned that it was going to discuss some of the ethical and philosophical aspects of robots， and these are topics I do enjoy。 Once I finally started reading htis book， I was hooked。 First off， Kate Darling is a great writer。 I love to learn， but sometimes， when diving into unfamiliar territory， the jargon goes way over my head， and that’s what I was expecting from this book， but that wasn’t the case。 Kate does an incredible job writing in a way that anyone can understand， but also， her whole thesis and comparing the history and treatment of animals to the future of robots made it even easier to follow。 As a vegetarian， maybe Kate’s arguments resignated more with me， but I do think most people would enjoy this book。 She covers so many great topics about the past， present， and future of robots and our relationships with them， and I was pleasantly surprised that there’s quite a bit of psychology discussed in the book as well。 So， do I recommend this book？ Absolutely。 Not only did I love this book， but she made me interested in the topic as a whole。 Now that I’ve finished it， I have a bunch of books on my list to check out for more discussions around the ethical and philisophical aspects of robots and AI。 。。。more
Jess
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I’m obsessed with this book。 Darling considers our future with robots （how do you define a robot？） through the lens of our history with animals。 From economics and labor to empathy and companionship the parallels are striking and provocative。 I’ve not read a lot about robots so this may not be saying much but this book put forward ideas and questions I had never begun to consider。 The ideas are novel in a way I’ve been missing post grad-school。 On top of that the book is very readable， and well I’m obsessed with this book。 Darling considers our future with robots （how do you define a robot？） through the lens of our history with animals。 From economics and labor to empathy and companionship the parallels are striking and provocative。 I’ve not read a lot about robots so this may not be saying much but this book put forward ideas and questions I had never begun to consider。 The ideas are novel in a way I’ve been missing post grad-school。 On top of that the book is very readable， and well researched。 Extensive citation of female scholars and activists （did you know there were women in tech！？） is the cherry on top。 I began recommending this to people before I even finished it and will continue to do so。 Think it is of interest to futurists and vegetarians alike。 。。。more
Brian Clegg
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This book is based on a fascinating concept - that we've got robots all wrong。 Kate Darling is admittedly a robot enthusiast， but she makes a convincing argument that too often we compare robots to humans， where a more useful parallel might be domesticated animals。 As Darling shows， most of things that worry us about robots， whether it's their usurping us or needing robot rights， are concerns that have already been developed in some depth when we think of animals。Darling also suggests that long This book is based on a fascinating concept - that we've got robots all wrong。 Kate Darling is admittedly a robot enthusiast， but she makes a convincing argument that too often we compare robots to humans， where a more useful parallel might be domesticated animals。 As Darling shows， most of things that worry us about robots， whether it's their usurping us or needing robot rights， are concerns that have already been developed in some depth when we think of animals。Darling also suggests that long term we don't need to worry about robots taking our jobs， just as the luddites didn't need to worry about technology - robots can and will cause disruption， but long term the outcome is more likely to be beneficial than negative。 Darling also points out that predictions of robots doing more generalised tasks tend to hugely over-promise。 Self-driving cars， for example， still have a long way to go and many robotic devices still need human oversight。 （You might not think of self-driving cars as robots， but one of the underlying themes here is that useful robots are hardly ever the SF humanoid cliché。）This isn't a totally rose-tinted picture， though。 Darling does remind us of the issues faced by anything making life-changing decisions for us based on artificial intelligence - but overall， with the right safeguards， she is enthusiastic about a future where robots will have a similar relation to us as pets and working animals。The one shame about this book is that it didn't have a science writer as co-author。 Although Darling starts off in a chatty fashion， the writing suffers considerably from needing a good writer's oversight， to cut down on the significant amount of repetition and to give more sense of narrative to what can often seem like a collection of facts and ideas with insufficient structure。 There is also too much on the history of animal domestication and animal rights - it needed to be fed in， but not to have whole chapters dedicated to it。 It might also have helped with some of the prehistoric context。 For example we are told that humans have punished animals for hundreds of thousands of years - that's a bit of a stretch。Overall， though， despite some writing issues， the book is thought-provoking and at a time when the ethics of AI and robotics is a popular topic， provides genuinely novel insights and imagination。 。。。more
Gregory
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Kate Darling's The New Breed: What Our History with Animals Reveals about Our Future with Robots is a thought-provoking read for anyone with an interest in robots real， hypothetical or fictional。 （I received an advance reader's edition copy through Goodreads' Giveaways in exchange for reviewing it。）The book asks readers to consider how humans' different relationships with animals can be used as models for our current and future relationships with robots。 Darling isn't advocating that robots shou Kate Darling's The New Breed: What Our History with Animals Reveals about Our Future with Robots is a thought-provoking read for anyone with an interest in robots real， hypothetical or fictional。 （I received an advance reader's edition copy through Goodreads' Giveaways in exchange for reviewing it。）The book asks readers to consider how humans' different relationships with animals can be used as models for our current and future relationships with robots。 Darling isn't advocating that robots should have the same status and right as animals; rather， she's conducting a thought experiment in viewing robots without the anthropomorphism we usually give them。 If we don't treat robots as human analogues and instead think about them as we would an animal， can we get a clearer understanding of how we should interact with them？Darling argues that we can， and she presents an impressive amount of research about our history with both animals and robots for consideration。 Although the book is exhaustively researched， it's all presented in a very breezy， entertaining manner that still manages to cover a lot of ground。One of the author's main points in deanthropomorphizing robots is to make it clear that "we actually have some control over how robots impact the labor market。 Rather than pushing for broad task automation， we could invest in redesigning the ways people work in order to fully capture the strengths of both people and robots，" just as humans and animals have worked in complementary roles throughout history。 Viewing robots as partners for humans--and not as replacements for them--is necessary to engineer this future， she argues。Also included in the book is a discussion of the legal status of robots （with historical examples of animal legal cases to examine the issue from different perspectives）。 Darling makes the point that we need to confront our knee-jerk response to assign blame to a robot when one causes problems: "It's easier to decry robots than it is to curb the unchecked corporate profit incentives， or care more deeply about privacy， or fight gender and racial and other bias in design and use of robots。" She makes it clear that our tendency to anthropomorphize robots blinds us to holding accountable the makers of the robots when something goes wrong。The New Breed entertainingly guides readers to re-examine our preconceptions about robots and imagine better relationships we can have with them。 。。。more
Daryl
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Dr。 Darling's premise here is that we should look at our （human's） relationship with robots， in the future， based on our relationship with animals in the past and present。 That is， not as replacements for humans （"robots are taking our jobs"） but as a supplement to humans in the way we use animals for work， companionship， etc。 She makes the point most clearly and succinctly in the 4-page epilogue。 I may have saved you from reading the book， though if that sounds interesting to you， give it a go。 Dr。 Darling's premise here is that we should look at our （human's） relationship with robots， in the future， based on our relationship with animals in the past and present。 That is， not as replacements for humans （"robots are taking our jobs"） but as a supplement to humans in the way we use animals for work， companionship， etc。 She makes the point most clearly and succinctly in the 4-page epilogue。 I may have saved you from reading the book， though if that sounds interesting to you， give it a go。 Most of the rest of the book contains examples to make her point。 It's well written and she takes a conversational tone that makes it easy reading， and often peppers her writing with personal stories and jokes that liven up the prose。 I liked it while I was reading it， but I'm not sure how long it will stick with me。 I won my copy through Goodreads' giveaways。 。。。more
Jennifer
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I won this in a Goodreads giveaway and found it very entertaining。 Some AI books can be a little 'out there' and， based on the title alone， I did initially wonder whether this might be one of those， but was reassured by the author's credentials as an expert in Robot Ethics （she is probably best known for her research project that asked volunteers to physically 'discipline' robotic toy dinosaurs， which she discusses in the book）。 The underlying thesis is that， instead of thinking of robots as ana I won this in a Goodreads giveaway and found it very entertaining。 Some AI books can be a little 'out there' and， based on the title alone， I did initially wonder whether this might be one of those， but was reassured by the author's credentials as an expert in Robot Ethics （she is probably best known for her research project that asked volunteers to physically 'discipline' robotic toy dinosaurs， which she discusses in the book）。 The underlying thesis is that， instead of thinking of robots as analogous to humans （which in their current form is far from reality）， it might be more useful instead to think of them as analogous to animals （which have a long history of interacting with humans as providers of physical labor， emotional support and other such roles that robots are now currently being developed and used to provide）。 In support of this argument， she uses a plethora of interesting， and often amusing， examples of human interactions with animals， robots and robot animals。 Although the main argument of the book may have been better served by fewer anecdotes （carefully selected to illustrate each robotics use case）， thereby mitigating the need for the author to restate her thesis redundantly throughout the book to pull the reader back on topic after each detour， since the anecdotes themselves were part of what made this book fun to read it is hard for me to fault them。 And the variety of stories interwoven into the text virtually guarantees that every reader will be able to come away from it having learned something new。 。。。more
David Meyer
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This was a great read from start to finish。 The author used fascinating examples throughout the book， many of which seemingly deserve entire books of their own to explore。 Darling was honest when the situation called for it about her viewpoint and its limitations， though might have even been to humble as she is clearly an expert in her field。 For anyone with even a passing interest in robots and or animals， this is a must read。
Susan Walker
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Interesting story of the history of man and animals and how that can tie in to robots in the future。 This book gives the reader a lot to think about。
Sara Watson
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Dr。 Darling offers an insightful reframing for thinking about our relationship with robots and our future as collaborators。 She also shows us that how we treat robots can teach us a lot about our own humanity。
Sara Weather
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#183 The Good 1。 Puts into perspective what is important when talking about robots- for example， how close we are to actual A。I。 terminator robots vs how close we are to say the normalization of digital surveillance。 I still think we have to be mindful of the push to replace us with robots but it may not even be a possibility in any of our lifetimes。2。 The insight into our relationship with animals – how that could mirror in a some ways how our relationship with robots will be。 It made me think #183 The Good 1。 Puts into perspective what is important when talking about robots- for example， how close we are to actual A。I。 terminator robots vs how close we are to say the normalization of digital surveillance。 I still think we have to be mindful of the push to replace us with robots but it may not even be a possibility in any of our lifetimes。2。 The insight into our relationship with animals – how that could mirror in a some ways how our relationship with robots will be。 It made me think of Bright Green Lies which brought up similar ideas about our relationship with non-humans。3。 The bit of history shown of animals put on trial。4。 It does acknowledge the biases that are put into our technology & that we could input in our technology ways to challenge these biases。5。 We underestimate the power of human empathy and apathy。 The Bad 1。 Repetitive a bit with the main premise- it felt like the same thing was being said over and over in the same way。2。 Instead it would have been interesting to expand more on certain ideas。 – under examined ideas。3。 Especially， since it really hit its stride for me in the last 100 or 70 pages。 Overall Throughout this year I have been unintentionally getting into books that each add different perspectives/thoughts about technology。 So I am happy to add another book that takes my thoughts about technology in a different direction。 Other BooksBright Green Lies: How the Environmental Movement Lost Its Way and What We Can Do About ItThe Genome Odyssey: Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them I won this arc from a goodreads giveaway by Henry Holt 。。。more
Glenn Stenquist
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Origional and thought provoking。
Geoff
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