Science fiction and reality: how robots from movies and video games come to our world

Although artificial humanoid creatures have been mentioned in ancient Greek myths, the word “robot” was first heard in a play by Karel Čapek in 1920. Since then, the topic of robots has remained extremely relevant for science fiction writers and futurists. Many popular books, films and video games offered their own options for the development of robotics, and we decided to ask the question: to what extent were their authors able to predict the real future? Have modern engineers come close to prototyping fantastic creatures? How does the genre of science fiction compare with reality these days?

In order to find answers, we decided to recall the canonical robots from films and video games and ask the famous robot expert, the first vice-rector of the Moscow Institute of Technology (MIT) and the general director of the Moscow Business School (MBS), Evgeny Pluzhnik, to comment on them from the point of view of the current state of affairs. in robotics.

Star Wars Series: C-3PO, R2-D2, BB-8

The Star Wars movie epic has given Sci-Fi fans a huge, deeply detailed universe. It describes everything in detail: philosophical concepts, technologies, star systems, biological species and, of course, the most diverse types of robots. You don't have to be a sci-fi fan to learn one of the most famous duos in popular culture, the C-3PO and R2-D2 robots.

The first is a protocol android, in his own words, owning six million forms of communication. Doubtful, verbose to the point of talkativeness, inclined to dramatize events, this robot hates travel and gets into all kinds of troubles.

His companion R2-D2 is an astromech droid whose main function is to assist pilots in interstellar travel. He communicates with the help of various noises - whistles, trills, squeaks and clicks, while many of his messages can be understood by the viewer by modeling the intonations of human speech. Brave, purposeful and stubborn, he is extremely charming and at the same time has repeatedly rescued the main characters of "Star Wars" from seemingly desperate situations.

In the seventh episode, the famous duo was joined by a robot model BB-8 - a touching droid with an original appearance in the form of a freely rotating ball and cleverly attached to it a hemispherical head.

Evgeny Pluzhnik First Vice-Rector of the Moscow Institute of Technology (MTI), General Director of the Moscow Business School (MBS)

The idea behind Star Wars can be described as "science fiction with a human face." After Star Trek, which came out 11 years earlier (1966 versus 1977), the creators of Star Wars had to amaze the viewer with all the trump cards of science fiction. Therefore, the robots in this series are emotional, charming and cute, while not all are anthropomorphic. In many ways, the pair C-3PO and R2-D2 is matched in character and appearance in accordance with the laws of comedy, even Chekhov's “Fat and Thin” is guessed. In general, the series does not ask philosophical concepts, but exploits the topic of robots as a sweet and interesting audience.

In reality, there are still no robots of a comparable level of intelligence and interaction with reality, however, deep learning technologies for neural networks are very encouraging. We see computers mastering communication skills. Already, programs are quite successfully passing the Turing test - an established criterion for the impossibility of distinguishing a person from a robot in communication.

Terminator series: T800, T1000

After a nuclear war, terminator robots fight the remnants of humanity and travel back in time to destroy first Sarah Connor, and then her son, thus predetermining the outcome of the final battle.

The T800 has a metal frame reminiscent of a human skeleton and an Arnold Schwarzenegger appearance. The T1000 is a more advanced movable liquid metal alloy model that is capable of taking on a variety of shapes, copying objects around it and ignoring mechanical damage.

The actors who play the terminators in the films of the same name were faced with the difficult task of portraying cyborgs who do not have any emotions, do not feel pity or fear, and go to the fulfillment of their tasks in the shortest possible way. It turned out well. And if the viewer could still feel sympathy for the T800 in the guise of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, sinking into the molten metal, shows his thumb, then the ruthless terminators fighting against people caused only fear.

Evgeny Pluzhnik First Vice-Rector of the Moscow Institute of Technology (MTI), General Director of the Moscow Business School (MBS)

This film came out seven years later (1984) after the first "Star Wars", but during this time a lot has changed in the technological world. Space is gradually being ousted from the minds of people by a new technological phenomenon - a computer, and space operas - by cyberpunk. Therefore, the theme of the war with robots is being actively exploited in popular culture.

How realistic are these predictions? Ninety-two percent of experts from the American Association for Artificial Intelligence believe that scientists in the next 25 years will not be able to create an intelligent machine that can surpass the human brain. So you don't have to worry. It is much more likely not to compete with machines, but to combine with them, for example, adding a digital chip to the human brain, which enhances its capabilities.

Video Game Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

The latest installment of the video game Deus Ex continues to raise tough questions about technological ways to improve human nature and their implications.

Using state-of-the-art technology, corporations offer people to improve their physical properties through implantable implants. Wealthy people acquire new fantastic abilities and make their lives much easier. At the same time, a split in society occurs: a significant part of it believes that interference with the human body is unacceptable. The entire plot of the video game is built around this growing conflict. All the advantages of fantastic technologies are available to the main character. The player can feel what it is like to be a human who has partially become a robot.

Evgeny Pluzhnik First Vice-Rector of the Moscow Institute of Technology (MTI), General Director of the Moscow Business School (MBS)

The ethical issues of cyborgization stem from the problem of our identity. New technologies pose a question for us: what will be our self-determination when neural networks can copy us to the extent of passing visual, textual and other Turing tests? What will remain for us, people, as a criterion of humanity? Who is this - a person of the near future?

Obviously, implant technology can provide many new possibilities, but most people have a fear or even aversion to changing their own body. Although, judging by the development of technology, a person is gradually giving up the monopoly on consciousness and the idea of "my body is my fortress." So, in the near future, we will surely see an explosive growth of implanted sensors, prostheses and improvements in our body at the genetic level.

Video Game ReCore (Seth, Mac, Duncan)

Zoomorphic robotic companions Seth, Mac and Duncan help the protagonist of the post-apocalyptic adventure ReCore save humanity in a battle with hostile robots. It is these three heroes that evoke emotional empathy, even though they are made of soulless metal.

Thanks to the abilities and improved skills of their biological prototypes, robots help their companion defeat even the most powerful enemies. They jump, climb rocks, in general, compensate for human capabilities where necessary. It is in this story that the union of man and robots exists in complete harmony.

Evgeny Pluzhnik First Vice-Rector of the Moscow Institute of Technology (MTI), General Director of the Moscow Business School (MBS)

In today's world, engineers often borrow ideas from wildlife. To improve mechanics and kinematics, a kangaroo robot and a dragonfly robot were created. And recently a robot was made on a skeleton of gold, which consists of silicone, and inside it is a muscle grown from genetically modified cells of the rat heart. It produces movement and floats along pulses of light (programmed for a specific wavelength). The robot floats in a nutrient solution to help muscle cells live longer. After six weeks of the experiment, 80% of the cells were saved.

Book and film "I, Robot"

The fantastic plot of the classic work of Isaac Asimov takes it to the near future, in 2035, where robots have become a part of everyday life and help people in everyday life.

In the spotlight is Detective Del Spooner, skeptical and wary of robots. Investigating the murder of a scientist, he comes to the conclusion that the intelligent robot Sunny of the NS5 series, created by him, is guilty of the crime, which refused to obey the laws of robotics. As a result, Spooner finds out that there is something more behind all this - a whole system of VIKI (virtual interactive kinetic intelligence), which programmed the robots of the new series to disobey man.

The script classically illustrates the human fear of a robot uprising out of control.

Evgeny Pluzhnik First Vice-Rector of the Moscow Institute of Technology (MTI), General Director of the Moscow Business School (MBS)

Isaac Asimov was the first to go beyond fear of robots. He thought about how we can get along with another intelligent life form, and developed the ethics of robots - his famous laws of robotics. Unfortunately, in real life they cannot yet be applied, but more recently it became known that the British Standards Institute has published norms for the creation of robots. This means that this area will soon receive even more development, and will also become more regulated in order to avoid possible ethical problems.

What examples of the gradual implementation of fantastic ideas can you remember? Share in the comments!