Artificial intelligence in fiction
Artificial intelligence is a recurrent theme in science fiction, whether utopian, emphasising the potential benefits, or dystopian, emphasising the dangers.
A didrachm coin depicting the winged Talos, an automaton or artificial being in ancient Greek myth, c. 300 BC
Brent Spiner portrayed the benevolent AI Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Robots revolt in Karel Čapek's 1920 science fiction play R.U.R.
Some fictional robots such as R2-D2 have been seen as utopian, making them popular with engineers and others. In 2015, All Nippon Airways unveiled this Boeing 787-9 in R2-D2 livery.
Erewhon: or, Over the Range is a novel by English writer Samuel Butler, first published anonymously in 1872, set in a fictional country discovered and explored by the protagonist. The book is a satire on Victorian society.
First edition cover