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Will we always be able to define what is alive and what is not? Will we always be able to tell the human being from the robot?
Robots have long been common subject matter in science fiction, among the most famous are the robot stories of Isaac Asimov. Frankenstein can be viewed as the first robot--an artificial man created for humanity's benefit. Karel Capek's R.U.R. and later works such as Jack Williamson's The Humanoids have raised the problem of technology's power to enslave and dehumanize.
Many Canadian science fiction works include robot characters or artificial intelligences. Phyllis Gotlieb's O Master Caliban! and Jim Willer's Paramind portray machines or computers attempting, and achieving, control over human beings.
I, Robot
Asimov, Isaac
New York: Gnome Press, 1950.
This collection of short stories chronicles the development of the robot from its primitive origins in the present to ultimate "perfection"' in the near future -- a future in which humanity could become obsolete.
R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama
Capek, Karel
Translated by Paul Selver. Garden City: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1923.
A satire on mechanical civilization, this melodrama visualizes robots (a term coined by the author) revolting and taking over the world -- as soon as they develop souls.
Courtesy of Doubleday, Page & Company.
Machine Sex ... and Other Stories
Dorsey, Candas Jane
Victoria, B.C.: Porcepic Books, 1988.
This collection of short stories speculates about a future in which, despite advances in technology, the human element -- the people passion factor -- remains central.
Used by permission of Beach Holme Publishers, Victoria, B.C.
O Master Caliban
Gotlieb, Phyllis
New York: Hagerstown, 1976.
In this sinister story, those who were once mere servants and agents of the human will become strong. Machines take control of their human masters as they search for their past on a distant planet.
Nos amis robots
Martel, Suzanne
Montréal: Héritage, 1981.
The world's power has failed. Spaceships of unknown origin plough through space. Robots obey their true masters. And two young boys wonder whether they will ever see their families again in this futuristic adventure for young readers.
Nos amis robots. Suzanne Martel. Montréal: Héritage, 1981.
Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1983.
Frankenstein creates a soulless creature who longs for acceptance and resorts to evil deeds when he cannot find it, eventually turning against his creator and punishing him for usurping the function of God as the true creator.
Paramind
Willer, Jim
Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1973.
Technology is all important. Computers will take over the world. Once there was government by the people for the people. Then there was government by machine for the people. Now computers aim for government by machine for machine.
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Copyright. The National Library of Canada. (Revised: 1995-06-17)