“They have a phenomenal memory. If you were to read them a twenty-volume encyclopaedia they could repeat the contents in order, but they never think up anything original. They’d make fine university professors.” ~ R.U.R
The defining text for robots, Rossum’s Universal Robots is a facial science fiction play written in the 1920’s as a commentary on the inherent dangers of socialism, capitalism, technology, human nature, the coming AI “displacement” of human jobs and workers, and everything in-between.
It was also the text that introduced the word “robot” onto the English Language.
Karel Čapek, the author, was undoubtably a great wit and a great thinker. His little play unpacked some of the key issues we are still grappling about today: human rights, robot rights, and the enteral trades off between liberty, equality and responsibility.
Definitely worth a read; as relevant for the 2020’s as it was for the 1920’s.