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Robots appear in a wide variety of literature and the first use of the word in its modern sense was in Karel Čapek's play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) (written in 1920; first performed in Czechoslovakia 1921; performed in New York 1922; English edition published 1923) [1]. In the play, human-like mechanical creatures produced in Rossum's factory are docile slaves. Since they are just machines, the robots are badly treated by humans. One day a misguided scientist gives them emotions, and the robots revolt, kill nearly all humans and take over the world. However, because they are unable to reproduce themselves, the robots are doomed to die. However, the sole surviving human creates a male and a female robot to perpetuate their species.

While Karel Čapek is frequently acknowledged as the originator of the word, he wrote a short letter in reference to the Oxford English Dictionary etymology in which he named his brother, painter and writer Josef Čapek as its true inventor [2]. In an article in the Czech Lidové noviny in 1933, he also explains that he originally wanted to call the creatures "laboři" (from Latin labor). However, Karel did not like this word and sought advice from Josef, who suggested to call them "robots". (The word is derived from robota, which means "drudgery" in Czech and "work" in Slovak).

The theme of robots has been picked up by science fiction writers and many volumes are focussed on Robots and their interaction with the human species. Of particular note is the work of Isaac Asimov who has centred a large portion of his work on Robot related stories. Asimov is particularly known for his creation of the three laws of robotics which he explores in his stories.

List of fictional robots and androids