This article is the sixth in a series of articles highlighting traditional themes and concepts of science fiction. Each month we will take an in depth look at one of these themes to help you master and incorporate these important concepts in your writing.
Beyond Humans
Robots are a recurring theme in science fiction. Whether they are mere machines, come in humanoid forms (androids), or have some form of sentience (AI), they interest us because they show us a new species born of human technology with powers greater than human beings. Do advanced robots spell the end of humanity or do they signify a new way of life in future times? There are many ways to look at this technology and to examine it in science fiction stories and novels. The quest for many writers is to understand the possibilities that this technology affords us both positive and negative.
The Birth of the Robot
The term robot comes to us from the play R.U.R. by Karel Capek. The robot's prevalence in golden age science fiction made it an element of pop culture spawning robot toys and ensuring that any visions of future society featured robots in some form. Remember Rosie the Robot from "The Jetsons"? And what would "Star Wars" be without it's personable robot characters?
No science fiction author has done more to establish the role of robots in the genre than Isaac Asimov whose Three Laws of Robotics are still widely regarded as a model for the creation of robotic characters in stories and novels.
Fear of Robots
The fear of robots has existed as long as the idea of robots has been around. Originally fears were centered around the idea that robots would replace human beings in the workplace, thus depriving people of jobs. In a way, these fears have been realized. Robots and modern technology, such as computers, have reduced the number of workers needed in various industries.
Science fiction writers, however, have gone and dreamed up new fears. Now, it is not so much the fear that robots and artificial intelligence will replace workers, but that these new technologies could replace human beings all together. A great example of these fears can be seen in Hal the AI featured in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The technology we create has the ability to be smarter and stronger than human beings. The human body is weak compared to the metal and machine parts of the average robot or computer. Bleak views of the future offer the idea that in creating robots and artificial intelligence, humanity has suicidally created the means to our own extinction.
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