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The first robot to walk the earth was a bronze giant called Talos. This wondrous machine was created not by MIT Robotics Lab, but by Hephaestus, the Greek god of invention. More than 2,500 years ago, long before medieval automata, and centuries before technology made self-moving devices possible, Greek mythology was exploring ideas about creating artificial life--and grappling with still-unresolved ethical concerns about biotechne, "life through craft." In this compelling, richly illustrated book, Adrienne Mayor tells the fascinating story of how ancient Greek, Roman, Indian, and Chinese myths envisioned artificial life, automata, self-moving devices, and human enhancements--and how these visions relate to and reflect the ancient invention of real animated machines. As early as Homer, Greeks were imagining robotic servants, animated statues, and even ancient versions of Artificial Intelligence, while in Indian legend, Buddha's precious relics were defended by robot warriors copied from Greco-Roman designs for real automata. Mythic automata appear in tales about Jason and the Argonauts, Medea, Daedalus, Prometheus, and Pandora, and many of these machines are described as being built with the same materials and methods that human artisans used to make tools and statues. And, indeed, many sophisticated animated devices were actually built in antiquity, reaching a climax with the creation of a host of automata in the ancient city of learning, Alexandria, the original Silicon Valley.… (more)
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The ancients were in doubt as to what artificial beings could be used for; labour saving, sexual substitutes and warfare. Mayor cites numerous examples of the sexual allure of graceful statues, some of whom were assaulted by night. And Mayor also reveals that the Ancients would have had little truck with Asimov's First Law - that a robot may not injure a human; The automata of the Ancient World were often created with vengeance, torture and punishment in mind
Its a fascinating book, and one that reminds us that concerns about the ethics and control of artificial beings is hardly a new concern; the Ancients were struggling with this three millenia ago