Historically, robots have always been a part of our visual and social culture, from pin-ups to film, from science to advertising. The desire to fantasize about future technologies, the assertion of control over another psuedo-human figure, the hope for a brigade of justice - all of these and more contribute to the interest in and often times obsession about robots and robotic figures. But, in recent years, there has been an abundance of robotic bodies featured in ad campaigns, films and art work. When following the trend from the 80s up until now, two things are interesting and important to note.

1. Earlier on, our collective imagination could not conceive of a robot who was not, in part, human. I’m hesitant to say that this is because of a lack of technology because in certain venues such robots (fully machine) were being produced. Some films (Star Wars) actually went forth and created non-human robots. However,  robots that weren’t part human didn’t really posess human features. Yet nowadays, robots are evolving to become more and more human, in feature, affect and ability.

A 1980s toy called Space Walk Man. Though it featured the word ‘Man’ in its title, it functioned fully as and looked completely like a machine.

1987 RoboCop - the concept of the robot expanded open up the possibility of to  a half man, half robot.

The 1990s humanoid robot. This robot posessed many human features but the necessity for an actual human evaporated.

A robot from the 2004 film, I-Robot in which robots were created to take the place of humans and wherein the robots nearly overthrew humanity.

2. Since they are our creation, of course they must reflect the ideologies that are prevalent in our society. So, robots aren’t free of gender biases. When looking at images of robotic figures in the past few decades, it’s interesting to note the ways in which they’re poised. The body language, the stature and the roles given to such robots are parallel to the positioning of women and men in our culture. I find this fascinating because the robotic body has always dwelled in such a realm of fantasy, a space in which anything can happen; Yet, somehow, we still seem convinced that gender norms are one thing we can’t break free of, even in a land of wonder and possibility.

Male and female robot from Ideas Unlimited. Of course, the male robot is positioned as holding the female robot, protecting her as she leans on his shoulder.

A robot featured in an article about the possibility of robotic lovers for women.

A 2007 advertisement for a spin-off show on FOX that featured a female robot. Not only is she being controlled (notice the puppet strings), but she is also halved and incomplete.

A 2009 CGI rendering from Terminator Salvation, a half-man, half-robot, poised for extreme action.

The most recent Svedka vodka campaign, featuring a femmebot posing seductively for viewers.

If you’re interested in the topic of robots in our culture, definitely check out Despina Kakoudaki’s (A professor at American University) recent work: “Are Robots Real? The Robot as an Object of Study.” You can find the paper online or try to catch one of her lectures. Here’s a little rundown of what her work is about:

This talk explores the figure of the robot as an object of study, and one that specifically requires an integration of methodologies from both the humanities and the sciences. Traditionally, the figure of the robot has been regarded very differently in these two realms: in the sciences, it is related to the promises of scientific inquiry, and motivates research and innovation in actual technological applications, or the future possibility for such applications. In the humanities, however, the robot is a figure of fiction and science fiction, which, despite its un-reality channels feelings about culture and technology, difference and justice, often in indirect ways. After exploring the implications and fundamental trends of the two modes, the paper proposes that an integrated interdisciplinary methodology would allow us to better understand the attraction and meaning of the robot as a figure, without resorting to the binary opposition between fantasy and reality. Using examples from fiction, popular culture, recent scientific applications and research in robotics, I argue that the two approaches fuel each other: as cultural figures, robots are both real and imaginary, and indeed it is often their imaginary qualities that fuel and inspire actual research. Despite the claims of roboticists that real robots are immanent, the cultural power and meaning of robots comes from their fictional and literary tradition, indeed from their unreality, their virtuality.

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