Open the Pod Bay Doors · Episode 2 of 10 · 22 min
Samuel Butler Predicted the AI Problem in 1863
In 1863 a young sheep farmer in New Zealand wrote that machines were a new kingdom of life that humans would be unable to stop serving. The idea runs from Butler's Erewhon through Capek's play R.U.R., which gave the world the word robot, to Asimov's Three Laws, which break in the first story that states them.
Who's who
- Samuel ButlerAuthor of the 1863 letter 'Darwin among the Machines' and of Erewhon
- Charles Darwin+2 more episodesAuthor of On the Origin of Species, read by Butler
- Karel CapekCzech playwright who wrote R.U.R. in 1920
- Josef CapekPainter who coined the word robot
- Isaac AsimovAuthor who stated the Three Laws of Robotics in 1942
- John W. Campbell Jr.Editor of Astounding Science Fiction, credited in the Laws' origin
- Susan CalvinAsimov's robopsychologist, present at many robot failures
Where it happens
- Christchurch, New ZealandCity where The Press printed Butler's letter in 1863
- Canterbury, New ZealandRegion where Butler ran a sheep station
- Prague, CzechoslovakiaCity of the first reading and National Theatre staging of R.U.R.
- Hradec Kralove, CzechoslovakiaSite of R.U.R.'s world premiere in 1921
Timeline
- June 13, 1863Butler's letter 'Darwin among the Machines' appears in The Press, signed 'Cellarius'
- 1872Erewhon published anonymously, including 'The Book of the Machines'
- 1920Karel Capek writes R.U.R., introducing the word robot
- January 1921R.U.R. has its world premiere in Hradec Kralove
- March 1942Asimov's story 'Runaround' states the Three Laws whole and breaks them
- 1985Robots and Empire names the Zeroth Law
Still debated
Whether Butler was serious or satirical stays open; he argued the opposite case just as energetically two years later. Reading modern AI risk into a Victorian writer is also disputed, as is whether the Three Laws helped or harmed the field.
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