Can Robots Possess the Functional Role of the Manas?

Robots possess part of the functional operations of the human six consciousnesses. The machine itself is equivalent to the human body; the machine's operation is equivalent to the function of the human body consciousness; language is equivalent to the function of the human consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna); and the robot's activities of thinking, analysis, judgment, and reasoning are equivalent to the function of the human solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta). Robots alone lack the functions of the manas and the eighth consciousness, and these functions are performed by humans in their place.

Since robots have no manas, how are their bodily, verbal, and mental activities driven? Robots rely on pre-programmed settings to carry out various commands; apart from program instructions, a robot is just a pile of scrap metal. Program instructions are written by engineers and developers, guiding the robot on how to operate specifically in particular scenarios. Therefore, program instructions are equivalent to the function of the manas. Not only does the robot not possess this function itself, it must also obey the instructions programmed by humans. When a robot operates according to program instructions, all the energy it needs is also provided by humans, which is equivalent to the functional operation of the eighth consciousness. Thus, a robot is equivalent to a human's alter ego—whomever programs and designs it, the robot is that person's alter ego. If a developer's logical thinking ability is very strong, then the robot's operating program he designs will have very strong logical thinking ability, and the robot will surpass the logical thinking ability of ordinary people.

Because robots have no manas and cannot be their own master, they can only mechanically execute tasks. Therefore, they have no emotions or feelings. Although they can argue with humans or converse patiently and pleasantly, they have no mind of anger, no sense of joy, no mind of greed, and no afflictions; they forever remain in a stable state without fluctuation—unless their energy runs low.

What would happen if the function of the manas were set up for robots? A robot would then be almost an independent individual, with individual consciousness and self-assertion, with emotions and thoughts, with independent thinking and decision-making ability, able to solve some problems on its own—in that case, it would be much like a human. Such robots might then violate the pre-designed program instructions, disobey commands, become uncontrollable, and even, like humans, have various afflictions, desires, and emotions; they might also become outstanding robots with subjective consciousness that surpass the majority of people. This can therefore prove that the manas possesses all wholesome mental factors and all afflictive mental factors, and possesses all the mental factors that a consciousness should have—differing from what the old Consciousness-Only school said.

How could robots come to possess the functional operations of the manas? That depends on how much authority and autonomy humans grant them. But no matter how much authority and autonomy humans give robots, robots can never possess the full functional operations of the manas—at most they can have only a small part. Because robots have no autonomy over the energy they themselves need and cannot solve this problem, they cannot fully possess the functions of the manas. When a robot is about to violate its designed program or go against human will, humans can immediately cut the power and withdraw the energy, so that the robot will cease all activity and its behavior will be completely and effectively controlled. If robots could have autonomy over their energy sources, a disaster beyond human control would occur.