What do you think of
when you hear the word "robot?" Is it something human-looking like
R2-D2 from Star Wars? Or is it an alien-looking creature that welds
car bodies?
This week the film, I, Robot, will be, as they say, "in theaters
everywhere." With a star like Will Smith, you can expect the movie
to be funny, and if it's based on something by Isaac Asimov, you
can expect the story to be good.
Well, maybe. I, Robot may or may not be a great movie, but it
is the latest manifestation of a fascination that we humans have
had with the idea of robots for just about as long as we've been
able to imagine.
The Greeks imagined statues that moved. In the Eighteenth Century
folks were fascinated by the automatons that could, among other
things, play chess.
Today, when most of us think of robots, we imagine something
humanoid. For that you can thank the great writers of science
fiction's golden era, including Karel Capek and Isaac Asimov.
It was Capek who gave us the term "robot" in his play RUR in
the 1920s. "Robot" comes from the Czech word that means "forced
labor." In RUR humanoid robots became more precise and reliable
than humans and almost took over the world.
Isaac Asimov wrote a lot about robots. Actually he wrote a lot
about a lot of things. In his lifetime, Isaac Asimov published
over 500 volumes of science, science fiction, history and more.
I want to be like him when I grow up.
Among all his works are the remarkable Foundation Series and
"Nightfall" which I think is the best science fiction story ever
written, as well as volumes about biology and the Bible. And there
is "I, Robot," a collection of stories published in 1950. That's
where Asimov outlined his "Laws of Robotics" that have influenced
the way science fiction writers have treated robots ever since.
The robots of most of science fiction are not merely humanoid.
Usually they can live and work and learn and react like humans.
They're what most of us imagine when we hear the word, "robot."
So, there was "I, Robot" the book and, now, there is "I, Robot"
the movie to give us a fictional view of robots. There is also
iRobot the company, which is as good an example as any of where
the romance and reality of robots diverge.
iRobot is a real company today in the real town of Somerville,
Massachusetts. They make robots. Not one of the robots they make
looks remotely like a human being.
One robot they make is PackBot. Packbot isn't really a robot
according to the classic definition. It's more like a radio-controlled
car on steroids. The Army is using Packbots to check out caves
and bunkers in Afghanistan and Iraq.
That's one thing robots are doing today. They're doing things
that are dangerous for humans. Those include disarming bombs and
disposing of hazardous materials.
Robots are also doing things that they can do better than we
can. Some of those things are big heavy jobs like welding auto
bodies and moving them around the plant.
Robots are also better than we are at tasks that require small
and precise motions. Surgeons use robot technology to help with
thoracic, abdominal, pelvic, and neurological surgery.
That's all wonderful, but the reality is that, despite decades
of flamboyant predictions, we haven't been able to put together
the science and engineering to make human-like robots. Sure, we
have developed robots that can do lots of important work, but
I'm not impressed.
I don't have a factory where I can use a robot. What I dream
of is a robot that will clean the bathroom properly without supervision.
I know that's a daunting task. Heck, it's had to get humanoid
teenagers to do it right.
Maybe, though, just maybe with some good engineering and concentrated
effort we can have such a robot in my lifetime.
Top of page
The
movie I, Robot has the usual official Web site.
So does the company iRobot.
Isaac Azimov was one of the great science fiction authors. In
fact, I'd put him up there with the great authors of all time.
Here are some of his works that are among my favorites.
I,
Robot is the book the movie is based upon. It includes the
"Laws of Robotics."
Prelude
to Foundation is the first book in the Foundation series and
therefore a worthwhile place to start if you haven't experienced
this classic.
The classic story Nightfall can be found in Nightfall
and Other Stories. This is worth buying for the title story
alone.
My favorite collection of Azimov short stories is Nine
Tomorrows.
US Robotics is a company
that makes things like modems that help folks connect. The name
of the company was chosen to match the company in the I, Robot
story.
Karel Capek was the Czech writer who gave us the term "robot"
in his play RUR.
RUR stands for Rossum's Universal Robots.
If like RUR (and I think you will) and you want more of Karel
Capek, I suggest The
War with the Newts.
The Robot Institute of Carnegie Mellon University not only studies
robots and robotics. It's also created a Robot
Hall of Fame.
One of the first industrial robots was Unimate
which went to work in 1961 at General Motors.
Cleaning the bathroom is kind of like a Turing Test for robots,
so several companies have brought out robots that are supposed
to do the simpler task of vacuuming or to function as toys or
companions or some combination of the above.
13 July 2004
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