INTERESTING: The robotic dog doing research in Africa needs a name
It's all in a name...
Have you ever really thought about the importance of a name? The meaning, the sentiment, the success, and the importance that is placed on making the right call when it comes to matching the name to the person, or, in this case, the robotic dog.
When parents choose a name for their kids, they take a lot of thought in crafting a name that will ultimately determine their child's future. The name is everything, it has a sense of history, a sense of heritage, and a sense of individuality.
We recently heard about a robotic AI dog named 'Spot' joining the University of Johannesburg. The robotic dog is part of a project by the US Robotics Company, which was "fabricated to not only perform hazardous and challenging tasks that would typically be beyond the human body’s capabilities; it is intended to look, act and be treated like a dog. It is an animaloid, equivalent to a humanoid (human-like robot)." (MSN)
However, as much as there has been celebration about the innovative nature of introducing Spot to our country, the thing is that it wouldn't be a proper initiation into being a South African dog if he didn't get a name that fitted his purpose and his role in our country.
Ready for another segment of FMF!!! 🤣🤣🤣
— Incredible_Karabo 🇿🇦 (@Official_Tebele) September 7, 2021
Dope invention Prof 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 https://t.co/nm8SQmNbHA
"Spot is the generic name that the Boston Dynamics technology team chose to build this dog-like robot, leaving room for the brand to be adapted in a variety of commercial environments where the robots could be used." (MSN)
So it's safe to say that he is a pretty unique and special dog, who certainly is skilled in many ways. This takes us back to the fact that choosing a befitting name is vitally important. Even more so now that this dog is set out to do things that could potentially help us as humans and most especially as South Africans.
"As this dog-like robot is now co-existent in an animal-artificial social system with us, it certainly needs to have a name, which is a symbol of its relationality with us. In a politically emotive social setting such as South Africa, this name must be politically, socially and culturally correct. The name of this robot must not offend any language group, class, or race." (MSN)
But what do we take into consideration when naming this dog without being disrespectful or offensive to any one of our diverse cultures in South Africa?
Just another dilemma we have on our hands when it comes to merging our diversity. How do we do it an equal, yet representative way?
Image Courtesy of Twitter