A shape-shifting body, atomic computing, powering a brain that might outsmart our own: the rise of the machines may be closer than you think. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s1e9: How to Build a Sci-Fi Robot, Science 2009
Learning the rules of an unpredictable world – that’s hard. ibid.
I’m about to fuse together flesh and blood with machines and computers. Prepare for a white knuckle ride as I build the ultimate cyborg army … Cyborgs are the perfect fusion of man and machine. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s2e9: Cyborg Army
Imagine a world ruled by machines where humanity takes second place. Or worse still, has been wiped out. This is more than just sci-fi fantasy: the rise of the machines is coming. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s2e10: AI Uprising
I’m going head to head with an evil invading force … I’m going to design a real transformer, a shape-shifting robot to save our planet from destruction. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s2e12: Shapeshifting Transformer
In the nineteenth century the problem was that God is dead; in the twentieth century the problem is that man is dead. In the nineteenth century inhumanity meant cruelty; in the twentieth century it means schizoid self-alienation. The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is that men may become robots. Erich Fromm, The Sane Society, 1955
I’ve got the mother of all fucking hangovers. Oh my God like you wouldn’t believe – If I have a heavy night, I er compensate the next morning – exercise, antioxidants, you know … Ex Machina 2015 starring Domhnall Gleeson & Oscar Isaac & Alicia Vikander & Sonoya Mizuno & Symara A Templeman & Elina Alminas & Gana Bayarsaikhan & Tiffany Pisani & Clarie Selby & Corey Johnson et al, director Alex Garland, Nathan to Caleb
Do you know what the Turing test is? ibid.
Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters? ibid.
Caleb: What was the real test?
Nathan: You. Ava was a rat a maze. And I gave her one way out. ibid.
Three years ago … the Robots invaded Earth. The war lasted just eleven days. Robot Overlords 2015 starring Ben Kingsley & Gillian Anderson & Callan McAuliffe & James Tarpley & Milo Parker & Elia Hunt & Craig Garner & David McSavage & Geraldine James et al, director John Wright
We have one rule which you must obey – stay indoors. ibid. robot
I’m not a monster, Kate. I’ve qualities you may learn to like. Or love even. ibid. Kingsley
We are witnessing the birth of a robot. Believe it or not this piece of white plastic will become a robot’s arm. In labs around the world we are creating advanced robots … It’s like the arrival of a new species. Hyper Evolution: The Rise of the Robots, BBC 2017
We already share our planet with nine million robots. ibid.
The impact of robots will be so monumental they could threaten humanity. ibid.
In the West we have less empathy for robots. ibid.
What people worry about more than anything else is that they will take our jobs. ibid.
Now they are tackling their greatest challenge – trying to think like us. Hyper Evolution: The Rise of the Robots II
Intelligent robots will become our companions and even our friends. ibid.
Mankind has been obsessed with building humanoid robots for centuries. Now as the prospect of living with robots comes ever nearer we’re beginning to wonder just how close human and machine can get … Could a new generation of robotic lovers endanger human relationships? Can we expect these robotic fantasies to come to life any time soon? The Sex Robots Are Coming, Channel 4 2017
At the forefront of the high end sex doll market is the Californian Real Doll Company. ibid.
The team aim to upgrade Harmony’s body with sensor technology enabling her to simulate realistic sexual responses. ibid.
Robot Wars: ah Terminator! It’s actually an old guy that’s had a breakdown and sellotaped a bar-knife to his Dyson. Frankie Boyle’s New World Order s2e4, BBC 2018
Could there be a darker side to AI? It seems as though we are in this crazy Westworld future where people are actually talking about having sex and relationships with robots. Super-realistic dolls are being fitted with AI, and these sex robots are starting to be sold in the UK. Sex Robots and Us, BBC 2018
This is the story of automation and of the people lost in the process … ‘A robot itself cannot be prosecuted. We will not consider the question of the robot’s guilt.’ The Truth About Killer Robots, Sky Atlantic 2018
In 1942 Isaac Asimov created a set of guideline to protect human society: I Robot. ibid.
‘Machines are so much higher in productivity terms than people.’ ibid. expert
After the first wave of industrial automation, the remaining manufacturing jobs required fine motor skills. ibid.
‘I feel like I’m turning into a robot.’ ibid. factory worker
Former centres of manufacturing became the testing grounds for the new driverless taxis. ibid.
The touch-screen made most service work obsolete. ibid.
The physical world and the digital world became one. ibid.
You could no longer tell where you ended and we began. ibid.
What if one day the machines turned on their masters? Dominic Sandbrook, Tomorrow’s Worlds: The Unearthly History of Science Fiction III: Robots, BBC 2014
Our very desire to play God might finally lead to our own downfall. And what are the dangers of using technology on ourselves to enhance our own capabilities? ibid.
The first great work to tackle the theme of artificial life: Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein ... Arguably the first science fiction novel ever written. ibid.
Metropolis (1927): one of the great landmarks in cinema history. ibid.
Isaac Asimov: He wanted to write about robots that were good … He outlined his three laws of robotics. ibid.
In 1956 the film Forbidden Planet presented us with Robby. ibid.
Silent Running (1972): Earth’s last trees and plants are sent into space … Credible, non-human robots on the screen. ibid.
One of cinema’s greatest double acts: Star Wars (1977). ibid.
The Terminator (1984): a robot with a human facade. ibid.
2001: A Space Odyssey: [Arthur C] Clarke and the director Stanley Kubric pushed computers one stage further, asking what might happen if an intelligent machine followed its programming to its logical conclusion regardless of the human cost. ibid.
Blade Runner (1982) adapted from a novel: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? ibid.
Battlestar Galactica explored the consequences of a world in which machines didn’t necessarily overtake humans but instead became human themselves. ibid.
What if humans became more like machines? … A Clockwork Orange. ibid.
Human beings literally transformed into machines: (1967) Doctor Who: The Tomb of the Cybermen. ibid.
One of the most popular American TV shows of the 1970s: The Six Million Dollar Man (1974-1978). ibid.
Robocop (1987) was the story of Murphy, a Detroit policeman who has been fatally wounded … A parable of how humanity might survive the forcible imposition of technology. ibid.
William Gibson is often seen as the great prophet of the internet age … Neuromancer. ibid.
The Matrix (1999): reality itself turns out to be an illusion built by a network of maligned machines. ibid.