Human-Like Robots Are Fantasy

Erik Ulberg
Sep 4, 2018 · 3 min read

What do human-like robots (HLRs) have in common with zombies, elves, and other human-adjacent beings? They are a literary tool to discuss humanity. We should recognize them as such and distinguish them from early-stage technologies that will be a part of our future. Current technology does not point towards their creation and most people do not want them. HLRs are fantasy, not science.

HLRs are members of a long lineage of near-human beings used as literary devices. Berlatsky’s subtitle sums up this idea when he describes their purpose as “exploring anxieties about class and labor” and points out that HLRs have a purpose in the structure of the story. (Berlatsky 2015) This should make viewers skeptical about their grounding in reality and bring to mind scholarly writing about other fantasy beings. Zombies can be a way to contemplate the “grey area” in between life and death. (Fishel and Wilcox 2017, 336) Elves are linked to “Ideal Beings” and can provide “a viewpoint from which deep human questions are explored.” (Campel 2011, 356) One could say that HLRs combine the lifelessness of zombies with the racial superiority of elves. These similarities suggest HLRs belong to sci-fi fantasy instead of sci-fi. McNamee describes science fiction as “based on science” that “follows a rigorous logic,” while fantasy “looks to the fairy tale for inspiration.” (McNamee 2015, 287) HLR’s are directly or indirectly linked to fairy tales through their similarities with other agent-based literary devices. They possess logic in their construction, but there is a gap in the logic of how they would gain traction.

Humans reject technology that looks eerily similar to us. Mori’s “Uncanny Valley” describes a reaction similar to encountering a corpse. (Mori 2012, 99) This is echoed in Nana’s feelings about robots in R.U.R. when she exclaims, “God, they make me sick! Not even a spider I don’t hate as much as I hate them heathens.” (Čapek 1920, Act One) If she is the voice of the common people and she rejects HLRs, where is the motivation to invent them? Mori also foresees a future without HLRs. He recommends achieving affinity in robots by “deliberately pursuing a nonhuman design.” (Mori 2012, 100) This reflects my understanding of how robots are used in society today. There are industrial robots that have a vague resemblance to animal parts and any robot that looks like an animal or human is a cartoonish toy. Most projections of the future assume HLRs will be ubiquitous, but I see no clear embryo for their development within current technology.

Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash

HLRs have a place in fantastical stories, but not in our future. They appear to be of science, but are rooted in the tradition of literary devices. They are more deus ex machina than actual machina. I think we should respect the historical consequences of the voice of the common people and their rejection of a world with HLRs.

Helena to Domin: “No Harry, don’t under-estimate her. Nana is the voice of the people. People like Nana have been speaking for a thousand years, and you’re just speaking for today. You don’t understand that . . .” (Čapek 1920, Act Two)

Sources

Berlatsky, Noah. 2015. “The Robots of Orphan Black.” The Atlantic, April 17, 2015.

Fishel, Stefanie, and Wilcox, Lauren. “Politics of the Living Dead: Race and Exceptionalism in the Apocalypse.” Millennium — Journal of International Studies 45, no. 3 (2017): 335–355.

Karel Čapek, “R.U.R. (Rossum´s Universal Robots).” 1920. Translated by David Wyllie (2014). eBooks@Adelaide. https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/c/capek/karel/rur/index.html.

Lori M. Campbel. “Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits (review).” MFS Modern Fiction Studies 57, no. 2 (2011): 355–357.

McNamee, Gregory. “Science fiction vs. fantasy.(Fine Distinctions)(Column)” 91, no. 3 (2015): 287,9.

Mori, M., Macdorman, K. F., and Kageki, N. “The Uncanny Valley [From the Field].” Robotics & Automation Magazine, IEEE 19, no. 2 (2012): 99.

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