Gods & Robots – Reading Response
In Mayor’s view, the technologies that contemporary people believe to have arisen in modern society, such as artificial life, genetic modification, and automatic machines, were actually imagined more than 2,000 years ago in ancient Greece. Gods and Robots approaches the ancient mythological imagination through the lens of biotechnology and mechanical processes, citing numerous examples to illustrate the concept of various lifelike replicas and automatons. This book tells how ancient Greek, Roman, Indian, and Chinese myths envisioned robots and other forms of artificial life and human augmentation, and invented truly automated machines. mayor connects the dots between myth, ancient machines, today’s robots, and other emerging technologies to explore the eternal impulse to create artificial life. She reveals how some of today’s most advanced innovations in robotics and artificial intelligence were foreshadowed in ancient mythology and illuminates how science has always been driven by the imagination.
I strongly agree with the idea that mythological imagery of automatons inspired technological innovation in reality. To say that Greek mythology predicted modern technology such as automation, killer robots, and artificial intelligence may sound a bit ridiculous at first. But when you think about it, how are automatons like Talos and Pandora, which can interact with humans, not an early prediction of modern humanoid robots? The ancient robots are not the same as artificial intelligence in the general sense now, but these attempts embody the dream of humans to replicate and simulate themselves. Technology limits the imagination to a reasonable range. But without imagination, no scientific progress can be advanced; without science, imagination cannot distinguish between reality, illusion, and the future. Imagination is like an ever-expanding collection on which science has drawn a circle as a constraint. Imagination is connected to technology, art, and ancient cultures. I should also actively use my imagination to provide new ideas when taking the class Introduction to Robotics.