As time progresses towards the future, do you believe that the Nexus-6 Androids will be able to pass the Voight-Kampff test?
Rick Deckard heads to Seattle to administer the Voight-Kampff empathy test to a group of random people. Within this random selection of people, the Rosen Association places androids in the group to test the validity of the empathy test. Upon arrival, Rick figures out that the Rosen’s changed what their initial plan was and suddenly learns that he will be testing Rachel Rosen who is one of the representatives of the association. After completing the test on Rachel, Rick determines that she is an android. While coming to his conclusion, Eldon Rosen informs Rick that his niece is in-fact not android but, grew up on a ship that left her empathy skills underdeveloped and different towards animals. Rick was in disbelief which allows him to confront Rachel again and ask her to answer one more question to completely verify his conclusion. This question did the job, by confirming that she is an android and that the Rosen Association was lying about Rachel. As rick is leaving he realizes “they came awfully damn close to undermining the Voight-Kampff scale, the only method we have for detecting them” (Dick 60). Rick now understands that he can administer this test and he will have to begin hunting for the six Nexus-6 androids that injured his colleague.
In the book, the Nexus-6 Androids come close to fooling and undermining the Voight-Kampf test. In reality, a similar test has been developed to test if one can tell the difference between a robot and human; it is called the “Turing” test, named after Alan Turning. Every year, the Turing test is tested against the latest A.I. systems, and every year, the test gets closer ans closer to failing. If the same holds true for the test in the book, then eventually the androids will be able to pass the test.
I don’t know if the Nexus-6 androids specifically will be able to eventually pass the Voight-Kampf test, but it is probable that some type of android in the future will be able to. As was discussed in the novel, tests were in place to determine if old models of androids were truly androids, however there was no such set test for the new Nexus-6 model. It is very probable that in the future a new model of android will be developed that cannot be tested by the Voight-Kampf, or any test for that matter.
The Nexus-6 androids will eventually be able to pass the test. The machine will adapt and learn what responses are deemed right and eventually there wont be a clear line between what is fake and what is real. If the coding in the androids is made to learn and adapt then the next time one takes the test it may not even work. Rick barely caught Rachael as android of the new model.
As time progresses I think the Nexus-6 Androids will not be able to pass the Voight-Kampff test because the test is strictly for determining if someone is actually an android or not. But then maybe they will be able to pass it because technology isn’t always a guarantee, it can mess up at any given time.
I believe they will be able to pass the test in the future. Technology is always advancing. These androids are superior to other androids because the Rosen Association fixed the weaknesses the previous androids had. Sooner than later they will be able to fix the empathy ability on the androids. Besides the empathy ability the Nexus-6 androids could not be told apart from a normal human on the street. It is only a matter of time.