The development of mechanisms able to interact with the environment is rising with the passing of the years. Nowadays, our lives are very much dependent on technology due to the fact everything is now computerized or very close to work independently from the human hand. As a consequence of all these advancements, there is the belief that if a camera and a microphone are attached to a computer it can receive data from its surroundings; therefore the computer can “perceive the world” the same way humans do.

Bearing in mind this previous statement, it is important to highlight the main differences between the ways human beings perceive and obtain information from their environment and the ways computers do this exact same thing. First, taking into a count perception, for men, is given through two main ways, externally and internally. Externally refers to the five human senses, which are, sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing. It is proven and known that these senses exist since the conceiving of a human baby and are developed accordingly to his or her growth. With the use of the senses, human beings can perceive the world in different areas, like the colours and sizes of things with the sight; the roughness or softness of objects with the touch and the bitterness or sweetness of food with the taste, among others. Even though, there are computers programmed in order to be able to receive this same information with the use of cameras, microphones and other mechanisms, the development of a computer with the capacity to collect information the same way as humans do hasn’t being reached yet, because not only humans act in their environments and store the information acquired but they associate the information acquired by a sense with the one acquired by another so that the perception of the object or place being analysed is much more accurate and precise.

Moreover, 99% of the data collected by human beings is tied to subjectivity due to the internal method men have to gather information. When talking about the internal system people have to perceive their surroundings, it refers to the idea or image that is created in their brains after the object or place is processed by the senses, this means that not only the picture, sound or flavour will be displayed inside the people’s minds but as well the feelings and effects it creates will matter when referring to the perception someone has about something. Considering the effects these thoughts might have, they not only include whether the person likes it or not, but at the same time, how it makes him or her feel, happy, sad, excited, angry, among others; as well as any memory it might bring back. Which takes us to another big difference between human and programmed perception, feelings and effects.

A starting point for this argument is the differences and similarities between how the human body delivers information and how a computer does. Even though the brain is connected to the rest of the body through nerves and glands that transport data in a similar way computer’s cables and chips do, for example the way the brain uses neurotransmitters to send a signal from a neuron to a target cell can be easily contrasted to the connections made in a robot’s electronic circuit which is usually made of individual and different electronic components and wire through which electric current is passed. Despite that, the release of endorphins and other neurotransmitters by glands not only fulfils the purpose of transmitting the information but as well produces actions and reaction of the body of a person and his or her mood as well as stated by Neurogistics Inc (2010) this brain chemicals that communicate information throughout our brain and body that can also affect the temperament of people. In fact, when accomplishing the receiving and processing of information by a human being, whether it has the purpose of simply storing or making the body move, among other objectives it might have, the person will interpret this information according to his or her likings and at the same time it will free emotions and develop mood-changes.

On the contrary, computers or robots programmed to “act” and “perceive” the environment they are placed in as a human, have not yet managed to acquire the connectivity skill man has, in which every single thought or action is related to all five senses, feelings and memories the individual might have about it. In addition to this, even though a processor is predetermined to “feel” somehow when facing a situation that is part of the list implemented in the computer, the mechanism is not feeling, but is following the instructions given by its creators and programmers to act in a certain way when fronting an specific occasion.

In conclusion and to summarize, even though computers can be programmed to act and perform certain gestures or noises during an specific situation with the help of mechanisms such as cameras and microphones, they have not reached the point where they are able to perceive the world as human beings do, because there is no robot that has yet developed the capacity humans have of connecting every though with all five senses, feeling and memories and due to the fact the do not “feel” or actually “perceive” by themselves, but they simply follow instructions assigned by their creators.

LIST OF REFERENCES: Neurogistics Inc. (2010). What are neurotransmitters?. Retrieved from http://www.neurogistics.com/TheScience/WhatareNeurotransmi09CE.asp