I just read an undergraduate report saying that a robot's agent contained an FSM. This (belatedly) made me realise how transparent robotics makes Cartesian dualism. There's no question in the case of a robot what is hardware and what is software; there really is a dual nature. However, it is equally obvious that neither the hardware nor the software has agency without the other. Agency is defined as a capacity to effect change in the world; neither the hardware nor the software can do that alone.
Comments