《Robots from Imagination to Reality》 From the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz and R2D2 in Star Wars to the more recent Transformers, robots have inspired many little future scientists. Modern children have played with robot toys, watched robot animations, and read robot stories. Those kids have eventually grown up to lead the frontiers of robot technology, changing the shape of the future world. The incredible history of robots is all about science catching up with human imagination, a constant dialog between imaginative fiction and actual scientific discoveries. The concept of or the desire for robot-like creatures traces far back, almost to the birth of human imagination. In The Iliad, Homer tells the myth of Hephaistos, the Greek god of metal working, who has helpers made of gold that spin and weave. This and many other ancient stories show that people have long dreamed of inanimate creatures that can do their monotonous or difficult work.

Then, in early modern times, the first invention that laid the foundation for robotics was perfected ― clocks. The mechanisms that ran them were called clockworks. The 17th century is known to have been the golden age of clockwork automatons. Walking toy soldiers were built, along with toy ducks that drank water and toy boys that over and over would write a single letter with a pen. These moving dolls were distant ancestors to today's robots. They were merely capable of repeating the same action. Still, they marked the beginning of modern mechanical engineering and kept alive the dream of robots. Further advances of mechanical engineering have given sharper edges to the imaginary machines that work for human beings. The term robot, referring to such artificial creatures, was first coined in Czech writer Karel Capek's play, Rossum's Universal Robots (1920). Robot is a Czech word for slave. In this play, robots are specifically made to do the hard labor so that human beings can live lives of leisure and comfort. This vision of automatic workers did not take long to be realized. In 1937, the earliest known industrial robot was completed, opening the first phase of robotics ― the age of industrial robots.

Industrial robots, though having made fast progress since then, are not yet thinking machines which can act independently. They are more like advanced clockworks, although far more precisely operated. Now, industrial robots can be seen to do hard labor everywhere around us, especially in factories and laboratories. They perform repetitive and dangerous tasks, lift heavy objects, conduct tests in severe environments, or help medical doctors with difficult operations. Products are manufactured infinitely faster and cheaper than before, thanks to them. They are sent deep into the sea, into volcanoes, and even to other planets where they are subjected to extreme conditions, doing what humans might be supposed to do at the risk of their lives. Modern industrial robots have significantly contributed to comfort and safety in work environments. Now, for the first time in human history, robots are about to evolve into independent, living creatures. The invention of artificial intelligence (AI) broke a barrier no human generation had ever reached before, and nobody knows for sure what might become of the innovative leap. So far, the prospect seems to have stirred more fears than hopes. In 2016, for example, when Google's AlphaGo beat the world's elite go players, one by one, the shock and dread that robots might finally assume life struck the global population. The fear was that an independent creature might someday escape human control.

The fear that human beings might create a living thing that cannot be controlled is not new. It is called Frankenstein anxiety and owes its name to the novel ― Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley. In this book, scientist Victor Frankenstein collects pieces of dead bodies and from them creates a Monster. The Monster turns out to have superb intelligence and eventually turns against its creator, with dreadful results. After Shelley, in the genre of science fiction, countless artificial beings were depicted as becoming dangerous. Human beings were seen to be replaced with their own creation. In the movie The Terminator, released in the 1980s, highly developed AI robots finally decide to wipe the human race off the face of the earth. If robots are supposed to follow the way of human imagination, we see a horrible future ahead, don't we? Maybe, but probably not. Fictional imagination concerning robots not only rang warning bells but also offered a way forward. Isaac Asimov, sometimes referred to as the father of science fiction, who first coined the word robotics, saw no point in too much worry. He pointed out that robots are machines ― advanced, but still machines. He believed that safety factors should be built into robots, as well as into other machines like cars and planes. The safety measures Asimov devised for his fictional robots were the famous Three Fundamental Laws of Robotics.

The Laws set the priorities for robotic behavior. At all cost, human life should be protected. In his fictional world full of robots, the Laws are enforced without exception. Asimov's fictional vision has proved insightful and has helped global leaders to plan and prepare for the future. In 2011, British scientists, engineers, and scholars suggested that designers, builders, and users of robots follow five ethical principles. The principles focus on human safety, making it clear that robots should serve human beings. Similar actions have followed. In February, 2017, the European Parliament approved a resolution calling for the creation of laws on robotics, based on Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.

Our future with thinking robots is now upon us. We cannot just stop developing them because of undue fears. Whether it will turn out to be a dream or a nightmare depends on our conscious choices and actions. Thorough discussions and constant monitoring are essential in guiding us in the right direction for robot development. We do not have to be too afraid, but we should be wiser and more considerate in picturing and planning for a future with robots, carefully weighing many different possibilities. Imagination, a uniquely human characteristic, will prove helpful once again. As a famous robotics engineer once said, Robots will go as far as human imagination can take them.