just some random thoughts on Robot and Frank

I would like to give a 8.5/10 just based on my overall impression. My hunch is that my score generated from a more careful review using a well-developed rubric would be a little bit lower.

One thing for which this piece is pretty remarkable is that it doesn't have much, if any, inconsistence with itself, considering it's background is set to be in a "parallel universe." Stories of this sort are usually found to be in such a quagmire where it has to take care of all the assumptions it must make so that the story can happen in that background, yet, the plot still has to be unfolded plot logically. This movie successfully introduces to the audience a future scenario where the technology of artificial intelligence is well developed and gaining its popularity on the market. In response to this, some welcome its arrival enthusiastically (such as Hunter) while others holding a more conservative and "humanistic" attitude (like Madison ), and yet, probably more are somewhere in between or swinging their attitudes around (here comes Frank). These robots may occasionally appear to be really like human (think about the moment when he said "did you ever think of me? [...] my memory will be wiped out" that moment really brought up my attention); nonetheless, these words are barely said to serve the main function or responsibility that the robot is programmed to fulfill.
It also brings up a question "What defines a human?" or "what really distinguish human from any other beings?" Some pre-socratic philosophers says we are different from animal because we shared many characteristics that divinities have. Contemporary scholars may take some different perspectives. Cognitive and behavior psychologists may claim that we are unique for our brain anatomy and the complexity of our executive functioning, and social psychologists may say it is our possession of the delicate emotion. Sadly, recent research are revealing "too much" about what human can "think" (it is quoted because, ironically, I do not "think" that we are able to "think".)
Well-developed studies suggest that, were the technology to permit, a super duper simplified human is cognitively the same as a robot, and a super duper complex robot is no different than an average human being. Turing invented a test for evaluating how "human" a robot can be: with a conversation that is not face-to-face, how much people would be convinced that they are talking to a human being. In the story, it is pretty clear Frank regards the robot as a friend, as it is evidenced by his reluctance or erasing the robot's memory. If this is the case, shall the robot then be regarded as a man?

On the other hand, I really appreciate the contradiction of the element of memory in this film. Frank has a problem with his memory, yet never seem to have problem with his artful stealing skills (speaking of which, a little contradiction is that he is so skillful in making a plan and carry it out to get the jewelries, but still gets caught every single time when he shoplifts little stuffs like the cat figures and soaps etc. ) The robot, on the other hand, would cause problem if his memory is kept to be permanent.

there are really so much more I'd love to put my thoughts down here..too bad just cannot do so right now...