“Robbie” by Isaac Asimov is a short story that takes place in 1998. When this story was written in 1965, the futuristic elements were extremely profound and one could see how the reader might agree with Asimov’s interpretation of the future. His world is detailed, including news events about manned Mars missions, futuristic technology, a technological code of ethics, or the ‘Three Laws of Robotics,’ and convincing personal relationships. However, Asimov got it backwards. Many elements in his world are still science fiction today and while robots do exist in 2010, Asimov’s robots are far more advanced in some areas and far more deficient in others. Although Asimov’s world contained many convincing elements, it was ultimately flawed and suggests that mankind’s predictions of the future are not always accurate.
Asimov’s robots are silent, expensive, metal machines with glowing red eyes. They are employed as construction workers, assembly line workers and domestic workers. Robbie, the nursemaid robot of the main character Gloria, cost the family half of a year’s income. He gives Gloria silent affection and attention while doing menial tasks for her parents. Robbie is also extremely agile, which aids him in taking care of his masters’ daughter. It would seem that even though Robbie is a bit unsightly, he does everyday functions (except for talking) with relative ease. This, however, is not the case in 2010.
In 2010, robots are very different from the expectations set in 1965. “The latest advances in technology have led to robots that look very much like humans but are mostly able to perform only limited functions.” (Bar-Cohen 12). Yoseph Bar-Cohen and David Hanson’s book ‘The Coming Robot Revolution” is very clear ab...
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...day. South Korea has set an official goal of getting a robot in every home by 2013 and the Japan Robot Association predicts that the personal robot industry will be worth about $50 billion dollars a year worldwide (Bar-Cohen 162). Only time will tell if these predictions are correct. As for now, however, the nonexistence of gyros, robot nursemaids, and visavoxes should caution mankind to be more conservative in the prediction of the future, at least until the science fiction of 1965 finally becomes complete science fact.
Works Cited
Bar-Cohen, Yoseph, and David Hanson. The Coming Robot Revolution: Expectations and Fears about Emerging Intelligent, Humanlike Machines. New York: Springer, 2009. Print.
De, Camp L. Sprague, and Camp Catherine Crook De. Tales beyond Time; from Fantasy to Science Fiction. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1973. Print.
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Scientific progress makes huge milestones toward developing new advanced technologies which are more and more present in human lives. Today robots replace people in many spheres such as health care, security and military, industry, education, entertainment and science. Role of robots becomes more significant because they are able to do the job which people are not able to perform well. Sometimes people are too lazy to do some routine work, due to such situation those tasks could be delegated to machines. People’s life become more technology based what makes demand for efficient robots larger. Engineers say that today robots look like machines, but in near future robots will have more human appearance, today they do some simple job, but in near future much more complicated tasks would be trusted to them. History of robotics goes far to the history when the ancient Greeks describes first devices that people were projected to fly to the sky like birds. In fact, heart of any robot is some program that direct the device and control it actions. Robot cannot perform the tasks that was not programmed in it and this if the factor what makes it quite limited in its actions. Current studies in robotics are aimed to remove those disadvantages and make robots more functional and universal through development of artificial intelligence that can operate independently. Curiosity of world community to robotics increase every day what make all the research and inventions in robotics more demanded. History of robots, resent achievement and future perspectives of robotics have to be studies and researched to understand what machines can give to humanity and what pros and cons exist in the r...
When most people think of artificial intelligence they might think of a scene from I, Robot or from 2001: A Space Odyssey. They might think of robots that highly resemble humans start a revolution against humanity and suddenly, because of man’s creation, man is no longer the pinnacle of earth’s hierarchy of creatures. For this reason, it might scare people when I say that we already utilize artificial intelligence in every day society. While it might not be robots fighting to win their freedom to live, or a defense system that decides humanity is the greatest threat to the world, artificial intelligence already plays a big role in how business is conducted today.
Some would say the attempt to make a robot is an attempt to 'play god' and to recreate man. Others would argue that robots might become so intelligent that they would take over and replace humans. There is no better example of this than the movie Terminator, which begins with a world ruled by machines who are trying to kill the remaining human population. The actual field of robotics however, has produced many products which we take for granted. The clock is a household item that was developed in the beginning stages of machine ...
In today's society, robots come in different types and qualities, and robots’ use was mainly in the laboratories and factories; however, that has drastically changed where their uses are changing at a high speed. In addition to that, they have spread throughout the world. The main function of robots is to replace the work that people used to do, or perform tasks that man cannot. A robot is a mechanical or virtual device that uses a computer program, or electronic circuitry, to carry out its functions. In modern science, robotics refers to the study of robots is robotics, which deals with designing, constructing, operating, and using robots and computer systems for controlling and processing information and providing feedbacks. However, as much as robots replace human labor, individuals or organizations can use them in dangerous environments that might be harmful and beneficial to humans. Therefore, to understand the logic behind the creation of robots, one should learn the pros and cons of robotics, in the current society. This is because people are using this technology without having a deep understanding of its effects. However, an objective evaluation of the use of robots, in the modern society, shows that they have a positive influence on human beings, but if the robots were overused, it could lead to a negative side. which shows why human beings should use robots wisely that will result an improvement to their societies and own lives. Robots have become interactive equipment whereby they have become part of human life. In this regard, people use them directly or indirectly to enhance the quality of their lives. However, Sharkey argues that there are ethical issues that arise because of using robots to enhance hu...
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