This volume explores automatons, computing, mechanical engineering, automation in the Industrial Revolution, digital technology, the search for artificial intelligence, and technological singularity--a hypothetical future point when technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unfathomable changes to human civilization.

Table of Contents

• Publisher's Note
• Introduction
• Historical Timeline
• 1. Endowed with Motion: Robots in Myth and Legend (800 BCE–17th century)
• 2. Automating Work: Mechanization and Human Capability (1590–1900)
• 3. Fear Your Creation: The Robot Revolution (1600s–1920s)
• 4. Automated Ethics: Robotics, Ethics, and Morality (1920s–1950s)
• 5. The Computer Revolution: A History of Early Computers (1940s–1950s)
• 6. Approaching Intelligence: First Steps toward Modern Artificial Intelligence (1940s–1960s)
• 7. Factory Work: Development of Industrial Manufacturing Machines (1913–1980s)
• 8. The Illusion of Language: Language Replicating Machines and Programs (1950s–1970s)
• 9. The Perfect Body: Robot Design in Pop Culture and Reality (1950s–2010s)
• 10. Seasons of AI: Development and Stagnation in AI Research (1950s–Present)
• 11. Hands Free: The Search for Autonomous Transportation (1930s–Present)
• 12. Robotic Justice: The Use of Robots in Security and Policing (1970s–2010s)
• 13. Where No One Can Go: Robots in Dangerous Places and Dangerous Jobs (1980s–Present)
• 14. Mechanical Medicine: Robotics in Medicine and Health (1980s–Present)
• 15. Playing Robot: Robots as a Toy and Hobby (1993–Present)
• 16. War Games: The Use of Robotics and AI in the Military (1994–Present)
• 17. Space Oddities: Robotics in Space (1966–Present)
• 18. The Ultimate Strategy Machine: Robots and the Great Human Strategy Games (1996–Present)
• 19. Homebots: Robots in the Home (1998–Present)
• 20. Replicating Humanity: Robotic Approximations of Human Form and Function (2000–Present)
• 21. The AI Assistant: Virtual and Digital Assistants (2011—Present)
• 22. Robotic Citizenship: Public Attitudes toward Robots and Robotics (2014–Present)
• 23. Biorobotics: The Use of Robotics to Repair and Enhance the Human Body (2017–Present)
• 24. Robotic Living: Smart Homes and Robotic Household Aides (2017–Present)
• 25. The Future of Work: How Robotics Could Impact the Future of the Working World (2019)
• 26. Quantum Computing: The Potential Future of Computing Technology (2019)
• 27. The Singularity: The Transcendence of Technology (2020)
• 28. Conclusion: Robotics and AI: Oppressors or a New Utopia?
• Appendixes
• Primary and Secondary Sources
• Glossary
• Historical Snapshots
• Bibliography
• About the Author