Robot Dreams


“Klaatu Birada Nikto!”
-Patricia Neal to the robot in
The Day the Earth Stood Still



        I memorized the words Klaatu Birada Nikto when I first heard them. 
        This was the classic phrase uttered to the robot Gort in the film The Day The Earth Stood Still back in 1951.  It was never translated in the film but must have meant something like “Klaatu’s in trouble, go get him, carry him back to the spaceship, and bring him back to life pronto,” because that is precisely what Gort did.  Efficient little language there.
        But to put it more simply it probably meant “fix the problem!”
        I knew the phrase would come in handy as robots began to proliferate because this was the promise in comics, books, films, and on television throughout the fifties.  It was clear that some key commands were going to be needed and fix the problem – or something like it – would surely be at the top of the list.

        Human-made humans have a long history in myth and fact. 
        The word robot – as everyone knows by now – was introduced in 1921 by a Czech writer named Karel Capek in a play called R.U.R. in which robotic workers rose up against their human oppressors.  The word lasted longer than the drama itself but the assumption that mechanical men would thrive in the new mechanized world took root.  We were becoming overwhelmed and would certainly need help.  As the mad scientist Rotwang says in the movie Metropolis, he intends to invent a machine “in the image of man, that never tires or makes a mistake.”  Hence Robby and HAL and C3PO and Sonny and Gort and the seemingly eternal quest for an automatic lawn mower. 
        In the play, the robots actually wind up beginning a new species that takes the place of humans but only after they exhibit human traits like laughter, timidity, protection.
        No need for Klaatu Birada Nikto then…the problem to fix is us.

        But no one frets much about robots anymore.  They show up in movies, of course, and in Japan where they love karakuri and AstroBoy and Asimo.  But it is amazing to look back at the predictions of the Atomic Age of my youth and see just how little presence robots of any kind actually have in the everyday world.
        There are industrial robots in factories – a population estimated at some 1 million – and plenty of fancy medical mechanisms that might qualify.  Some toys too.  Sad-eyed test dummies, tireless performers in theme parks.  But this is hardly the army of technoids, replicants, androids, cyborgs, and robots we were led to expect.  In spite of periodic breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, language use, mobility, and shape recognition, the robotic repopulation of the world is still only a fantasy.
        So I keep wondering…where did all the robots go?  Did they die out?  Are they hiding somewhere?  Did I memorize that famous phrase for nothing?           
        Not exactly.

        One reason that the robot population has not blossomed is our own complexity. Human talents are far more intricate than predicted and the savvy required to mimic human actions and behaviors is far more problematic than once thought.  Good news for us I suppose.
        A second reason is as poignant as the fate of the dinosaurs.  Robots too were extincted, to some extent, when something unexpected hit the earth.  Not a meteor but the microchip.  It put the smarts in the ordinary devices we use and undermined the need for humanlike intermediaries.  No need for a robocop to patrol the house with a home security system.  Nor a tin butler to deliver messages if you have email.
        But a third explanation for the scarcity of robots is more telling.  It is the fact that our lives are becoming more and more virtual…built on information rather than mechanics.  Bits not atoms.  In the Gizmos we are creating, communication overtakes action and our social presence is more vital than our physical one.  The virmen – virtual men and women – have outpaced the robots.  Mannequins, puppets, dolls, automata, and robots, have given way to netbots, avatars, and other ghosts in the machine.  After all, they are more present, more multi-functional, more reliable, and we can shower them with affection without risk of rust.
        But they also might just evolve faster.
        So I am still keeping Klaatu Birada Nikto around just in case.

No comments:

Post a Comment