Is a Robot Human?

I believe humanity is not defined by biology but by our overwhelming desire to find in meaning in life outside of survival. Humanity is the desire to search beyond our primitive instincts. Humans are unique in their need to learn and connect with others and it is this desire which leads us to invent. Each invention is a way to transcribe emotions relating our lives to the lives of others; music, art and language play off our senses while technology works to eliminate any distance barrier. Human creations vary immensely but each creation is meant to be shared with others. We search for answers in our connections.
In class we were asked to separate into groups and explain who seemed the most “human” to us; a gorilla who signed his memories of being found after his mother was murdered, a girl who had close to no contact with the outer world or, a robot who had experienced human relationships but had lost contact with his “home”. This task was not easy, each choice showed traits I would consider “human” but, what stood out to me the most was Robbie, the robot. It was not his interactions with others or his longing to return home which lead me to chose Robbie but his final action. As the movie comes to end Robbie explains his battery life is running out and though he could preserve his life he would prefer to spend a few more moments looking at his home. Robbie understands he has reached his end and though he is sad he creates a recording to share with whoever finds it. Robbie gives meaning to his life in this video even after his life ends. It was this action, his desire to share his life, which made Robbie appear most human to me. Robots are generally designed to be logical creations but Robbie’s choice was based more on philosophy and faith than logic. Robbie would rather spend the last few moments of his life looking at his home, creating a video to share with whoever may find it, than preserve his energy and life without meaning.
Apart from this action there was one other idea I saw in Robbie which seemed to be innately human. Despite his abandonment, Robbie believed there was something beyond himself in the universe. Throughout history humans have searched for reasons to believe in life outside of our galaxy, be it a god or another species. While we lack proof of any other form of life the search has continued for generations. Robbie does not have knowledge of any other life but his video shows faith in its unconfirmed existence.
There are few things in life I believe to be more important than human connection and while new technology seems to be drawing us away from that I do not believe that is our intention. The film, Robbie, showed even with technology there are some “human” beliefs and desires it is imposable to move away from.