by Alyx Grayson

Created on: April 08, 2009   Last Updated: April 22, 2009

Science fiction pushes modern preconceptions to their limits and challenges scientists to meet those newly developed preconceptions. In ancient Greece, Homer told stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey and of great machine like creatures. In 1818, Mary Shelley challenged the literary and scientific world with the creation of an organic robot or construct when Dr. Frankenstein created his monster. In 1921, the term 'robot' is used for the first time in science fiction literature during a play called Rossum's Universal Robots. The play, written by a Czech writer, features a familiar theme that will influence many modern takes on robotics in science fiction and in science fact: man creates robots, robots turn on man, and robots kill man.

This particular theme is explored ad nauseum in robotic science fiction from Isaac Asimov (the father of science fiction 'robotics') to television shows like Battlestar Galactica and the Dollhouse; the latter even refers to Rossum in an episode by naming a college building after him.

Robots Serve Man

In almost all incarnations in science fiction, robots provide relief for the humans who create them. They perform menial, repetitive tasks like household cleaning. The modern day Roomba, a robotic vacuum is a tribute to these works. The dishwasher is a machine that washes the dishes and depending on how high powered, it can be done without even rinsing the dishes off before hand. These modern conveniences are not self-aware as science fiction describes their robots, but that is also a matter of time and software development.

Science fiction was originally known as speculative fiction. It looked at what modern man could do and then speculated how they could do more. In 1941, Asimov looked at the industrialized world and how the war machine drove science and recognized that robotics and automation were the future. Many modern factories and processes rely on automation today, making 2009 the equivalent of a science fiction future to the residents of 1941.

Heed the Warnings

While many science fiction authors predicted the direction that man's need to explore and dominate his environment would take, they also warned of the dangers that could happen if man abuses his environment, his creations or his fellow man. Asimov created the robotic laws and Ronald D. Moore predicted that robots would turn on man, just like Rossum's Universal Robots did. While robots explore the depths of space aboard probes or rove across the Martian landscape or vacuum the living room, remember that each and every robot idea came to life in the pages of literature and heed the warnings to respect technology and don't let it overwhelm or supplant the human condition.

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