While Oscar Wilde is credited with saying, "Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life", perhaps I can coin the phrase "Technology mimics living organisms far more than living organisms mimic Technology." Yes we have robotic arms, biotechnology and more, but come on – clouds, pods, viruses and worms – what’s next, social networks? What, they are here . . . did you miss that one?
In any event, that’s why it comes as no surprise to me the first use of the term "robot" is generally attributed to the wonderful Czech playwright Karel Čapek. Now Čapek never envisioned some metallic assemblage of mechanical parts. Oh no, he viewed robots more like our notion of androids – creations of chemistry. (I was a chemistry major at one point in life so I should have known this.) It probably also wouldn’t surprise you to learn the term "robotics" was first used in a short story ("Runaround") by the acclaimed science fiction writer, Isaac Asimov. But I digress again.
Now Čapek’s play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), which was first published in 1921, used the Czech word robota, which in English translates to labor, and "Rossum" is generally considered to refer to the Czech word rozum, which translates to either "reason," "wisdom" or "common-sense." Now you know all this background is leading up to a useless but compelling question, right? Of course. There is actually some evidence that the term "robot" was suggested by someone else, before Čapek penned his work. Another writer to whom Čapek actually gave credit and attribution for the term may well deserve the credit. Can you identify who that might be? If you think you know, send your answer first and fast directly to me at joseph.rosenbaum@rimonlaw.com.