Karel Čapek
In plain wordsA Czech writer whose 1920 play about artificial workers who rise up against their makers gave the world the word 'robot'.
Czech writer and journalist whose 1920 play 'R.U.R.' (Rossum's Universal Robots), first staged in 1921, is the source of the word robot. The word derives from the Czech robota, 'forced labor', and Čapek credited his brother, the painter Josef Čapek, with suggesting it. The play's robots are not metal machines but artificial people made from synthetic organic matter and manufactured as cheap labor; they eventually rebel and destroy humanity, setting the template for robot-uprising stories later echoed in fears of AI takeoverAI takeover, n.: A scenario in which AI systems seize control of the world, or of key institutions, from humans, whether by force, manipulation or simply by becoming impossible to switch off.. Within a few years the play had been staged in New York and London and translated into many languages, spreading the word with it. A prominent public opponent of fascism, he returned to the theme of an exploited intelligent species in the satirical novel 'War with the Newts' (1936).
Related
- roboticsrobotics, n.: The science and engineering of building robots and making them work: designing their bodies, sensors and motors, and writing the software that lets them see, plan and move safely.
- humanoid robothumanoid robot, n.: A robot built roughly in human shape, with a head, torso, two arms and usually two legs, so that it can work in spaces and with tools designed for people.
- AI takeoverAI takeover, n.: A scenario in which AI systems seize control of the world, or of key institutions, from humans, whether by force, manipulation or simply by becoming impossible to switch off.
- Isaac AsimovIsaac Asimov, prop. n.: A Russian-born American science-fiction writer and biochemist who invented the Three Laws of Robotics and is credited with the first use of the word 'robotics'.
- Three Laws of RoboticsThree Laws of Robotics, n.: Three rules that science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov built into his fictional robots — do not harm people, obey orders, protect yourself — in stories that mostly show how such simple rules go wrong.
Sources
- Čapek, K. (1920). R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). Aventinum, Prague.
Mentioned in
Isaac AsimovIsaac Asimov, prop. n.: A Russian-born American science-fiction writer and biochemist who invented the Three Laws of Robotics and is credited with the first use of the word 'robotics'.