The robot has become a commonplace not just of SF, but of general technological culture. From little toy dogs children play with, to the small pieces of software that help you search the web, to the highly synchronized, untiring extensible claw-arms of automobile factories , robots, both as real machines, and as characters and ideas, are everywhere.

The first use of the word, "robot," was in the Czech play, R.U.R.. The word "robot" in the play is derived from a Czech word meaning "servitude," or "drudgery." In the play, the robots end up rebelling against their masters. Once again, the role of these non-humans makes us think about how we treat, and how we see, the real humans around us--whether they serve, protect, think, feel, or rebel.

In the best SF stories, rebellion is always a possibility. In good SF, the robot is a fully self-aware and active subject. Although created by humans, these robots are true characters, with intelligence and emotions. They consider their own nature, and their own roles.

Isaac Asimov may be said to be the father of the modern robot in SF. His "Three Laws of Robotics:"

1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, unless this would violate a higher order law.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would confict with a higher order law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with a higher order law.

neatly illustrate the human anxieties about the dangers of technology, along with its benefits, which are inherent in all the robot stories.

There is another type of "robot" character, which, as computers have become more sophisticated, has more nearly approached reality. Alive, self-aware computers have become more frequent characters in many SF stories. ("HAL," in Clarke and Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and "AI" in Harlan Ellison's "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" are two inimical examples, and "Mike" in Robert Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is a benevolent one). Many of us personify our computers (I know I do) and as we spend more and more time with them, they seem increasingly to be helpful friends or demonic enemies. (For a fun experiment in not-very-sophisticated artificial intelligence, which may make you want to punch your computer, download and try some of the chat robots, like Alice, and Eliza, and others, that will make your computer hold a real conversation with you...well, sort of.)

Go to the discussion board and tell us something about your relationship with machines, especially computers. How close are they to being human?

Don't forget to do the quizzes for the two stories you read and the movie you saw for this module.

Remember, the password is "quiz" (without the quotes, right?)

Title	Direct Link to Online Text (you will have to login with your library barcode)	Page number (in The Ascent of Wonder)
"The Last Question"	Link	826
"The Life and Times of Multivac"	Link	166
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (film)	Rent it! (or borrow from the library)	film