The Image of the Robot

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the portrayal of robots in contemporary literature and fiction. According to the author, the image of the robot is presented in all its best and worst aspects. The paper discusses technological dystopia, focusing on the more negative issues surrounding robots and highlighting their significance. The paper addresses the questions of why robots are portrayed so often in modern culture, why their qualities cause both admiration and resentment from audiences, and what the underlying human issues are that the artists want audiences to realize.

From the Paper:

"In stories pertaining to robots, they are almost always endowed with a humanlike appearance. In Isaac Asimov's Robot Series ("Caves of Steel", "The Naked Sun", "Robots of Dawn", "Robots and Empire"), there's one robot character that is the most human of all robots. His name is R. Daneel Olivaw (in the books, the "R" stands for "Robot"). He is virtually indistinguishable from an ordinary human, apart from the seeming perfection of his physical appearance. He can think, talk, and move like a human. He also seems to displays emotion. The character has used this quality to disguise himself as a human, thereby deceiving the real humans and other robots. In the movie "The Terminator", the robot from the future named as "T800" was so advanced in its physical qualities that it can only be recognized as a robot by its superior strength and total lack of human emotion. In "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines", a more advanced robot, the "T-X" (Terminatrix), has a female appearance but much more powerful than its "male" predecessors. Other movies, such as the "I, Robot", do not have "human" robots but the basic body structure used is still humanlike. In the movie "Stepford Wives", the woman robots look disturbingly real and perfect."

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