ROBOT
Commonly identified by its rough human resemblance and mechanical function, a robot's defining quality is its autonomous (or semiautonomous) capabilities. Designs for such a figure date at least as far back as drawings made by Leonardo da Vinci in the late 15th century. The word itself—derived from robota, meaning servitude in Czech—can be traced to a 1920 play, R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), about artificial people used as workers. Contemporary fictional robots such as R2-D2 from Star Wars and the B-9 robot ("Danger, Will Robinson!") from Lost in Space have achieved pop-culture icon status. Real-world examples range from stationary articulated arms used in industrial settings to teleoperated UAVs used by the military to automatic dirt-sensing domestic vacuums and scrubbers.
ANDROID
A robot that closely—sometimes eerily—mimics a human in appearance, with features such as flesh-like "skin" and synthetic organs. The Oxford English Dictionary cites a 1728 reference to the word androides, apparently in reference to a mechanical head, as the origin of the term. Fictional androids include Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation and the "replicants" of the movie Blade Runner, based on Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The Japanese have come closest to producing a real-life version: So-called actroids—most designed to imitate young women—"breathe," speak and exhibit other realistic behavioral abilities.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
Computer scientist John McCarthy, who founded the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, coined the term in 1955 to refer to hardware/software systems that exhibit cognitive abilities such as problem solving and learning. The character of the HAL 9000 computer ("I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.") in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey is a classic fictional representation of AI technology gone rogue. While that hasn't happened (yet), AIs such as IBM's Watson, which in 2011 beat two human champions at Jeopardy, have become scary smart.
CYBORG
An amalgam of "cybernetic" and "organism," cyborgs are biological beings with artificial parts. Perhaps the best-known fictional examples are the time-traveling assassins from the Terminator films (the versions that combined living tissue and metal) and the Steve Austin "bionic man" character from the The Six Million Dollar Man TV series. Advancements in technology and medicine are increasingly making cyborgs a reality. Examples include a blind individual whose sight was partially restored through an electronic "eye" connected to his visual cortex and amputees outfitted with thought-controlled prosthetic limbs.
THREE LAWS
A fictional set of rules that circumscribe the behavior of robots. As articulated by science fiction author Isaac Asimov in his short story "Runaround," the First Law stipulates that a robot must not through its actions (or inaction) allow harm to come to a human. This law supersedes the others, namely that a robot must obey orders given by humans (Second Law) and protect its own existence (Third Law), so long as doing so does not violate the First Law. The three laws have had a profound influence, not just on popular culture but also on the robotics industry itself.
HAPTICS
Technology that enables machines or humans to interact with real or virtual environments locally or remotely via touch. By generating feedback such as vibration, pressure or temperature, these devices simulate tactile experiences and contribute to telepresence—the sensation of being in a place that's actually at a distance. A relatively simple example would be video game controllers that shake when players drive over rough terrain or recoil when they fire a weapon. But research is advancing toward creating haptics-enabled interfaces that allow human operators to remotely control robots or robotic devices (teleoperation) with a high degree of precision. Emerging applications include space exploration and medicine.
UNCANNY VALLEY
While people generally respond more positively to machines with anthropomorphic characteristics, the uncanny valley refers to the phenomenon whereby robots that appear almost—but not quite—lifelike tend to give people the heebie-jeebies. The term, a translation from Japanese, originated in the research of roboticist Masahiro Moti.
Mike Antonucci is a senior writer at Stanford.
