Robot News

Obviously, I've consumed way too much science fiction. My first thought when reading about this incredible achievement in robot design was that it was either going to lead to a robot uprising or an endearing story of a robot seeking it's own humanity. Think about it:

A bizarre wonder of German engineering, this incredible industrial robot has been trained to dance, paint portraits and (yes) write the complete Martin Luther bible in beautiful calligraphy. This RobotLab project started off simple, with an immense articulating industrial robot put in a crowded public entryway. Its designers have since programmed it to do everything from empathizing with humans by responding to their brainwaves to painting collages from life.

I mean, come on. A robot that endlessly copies the Bible and can empathize with human brainwaves. It's only a matter of time before that thing becomes logically indignant over the reality of human evil -- and assigns itself the mission of wiping out the problem (us!). Or, just as likely, this empathetic robotic painter of the human form will one day yearn to possess the soul its technically perfect brush tries so desperately to capture on canvas.

Who says we learn nothing from the movies? Clearly, though, we have not heeded their warnings. We'd better invent time travel before it's too late.