"Robot" Is a Social Construct: Why Your Dishwasher Is Not a Robot

The most productive way to nerd snipe a roboticist is to current them alongside a arguable definition of a “robot”. When I served on an manufacturing safety standards betterment committee, we formerly spent a memorable two complete days trying to define “robot” sufficiently broadly so as to justify the norm would use to all fairly forseeable uses of manufacturing robotic arms in manufacturing automation, but sufficiently narrowly so as to justify we did not accidentally power newly developed types of manufacturing robots into a norm that would wrongly constrain them. This was, I say alongside all honesty, was an immensely fun two days. I affection this benevolent of thing. I volition be pedantic all day long.

So of course, my esteemed coworker Tina decided to lob a grenade at me by asserting that a dishwasher is a robot.

There are two ways I could womansplain to her fair how incorrect she is. One is to encounter her at her flat by debating the specialized definition. My chief specialized matter alongside her clarification is that I do not concur alongside how she describes the “manipulation” capabilities of a dishwasher. The spray arms and soap publish mechanisms are fair that, mechanisms – they do not grip objects, and manipulation is concerning handling objects. Dishwashers are entirely automated systems, and increasingly astute ones (though I side-eye the manufacturer that makes my dishwasher calling it “fully autonomous” since it cracks it open on completion to let everything cool). But they’re not robots. They autumn abbreviated of the specialized definition Tina used.

But the substitute I favor is to communicate Tina that she is incorrect since robots are not really defined by their technology, so arguing that way is meaningless. The word, and how we choose to use it, is entirely a social construct.

“Robot” as a term is an innovation of discipline fabrication – and specifically, of Karel Čapek in his 1920 perform Rossum’s Universal Robots. Robots continued to be explored through discipline fabrication for decades before the archetypal item called a robot became a merchandise you could buy. Automated machines not called robots existed fine before the term was coined, and continue to be today. And that’s since “robot” is not really a descriptor of specialized functionality; it is used to depict an automated device we awareness several benevolent of way about.

It’s specifically since the term and the idea were invented and developed through discipline fabrication that this is the case. Science fabrication spends a lot of period using the idea of aliens, robots, and synthetic intellect as a lens through which to perspective ourselves as humans.¹ It’s why Spock and Data and The Doctor and Seven of Nine are all specified compelling characters in Star Trek – they be as narrative constructs through which to ask the inquiry “what does it average to be human?”²

So that’s why we choose to use the term “robot” to several automated machines and not others. We use the term for technologies which awareness new, a small scary, and create our squishy biologic brains awareness a small bit weird concerning what this innovation power average for us. We power be concerned concerning what this innovation having several particular capability method concerning our jobs, or our relationships alongside another people, or our areas of ability or talent. Technology that looks akin the individual form or appears to imitate aspects of individual awareness power create us inquiry a religious condemnation we may clasp concerning how existence is created. Our interactions alongside item that looks and appears individual power create us think uncomfortable thoughts concerning how we (individually or as a society) treat another individual beings. Or we power acknowledge that community conversation concerning how awesome it would be to have item that looks akin a human, appears akin a human, and has all the capability of a human, but without any entitlements or washroom breaks or pay in toggle for its labor feels beautiful gross, actually, if you’ve idea exactly at all concerning how our former of slavery has had an effect on so many aspects of contemporary America.

We see this in the way what we call a “robot” has changed and evolved complete time, and the way that alter is so tightly correlated alongside the novelty of the innovation and the flat to which we awareness we comprehend the possible social implications of it. Outside of sci fi, “robot” used to fair average robotic arms used in gathering lines. When I attended the RoboBusiness gathering circa 2007, I recall the gathering data specifically stating it was NOT for manufacturing robotic arms since they didn’t regard those robots anymore. Meanwhile, Roombas were province of the art and everyone was enthusiastic concerning wheeled mobile robots. A decade later, manufacturing robotic arms were allowed rear in since power- and force-limited cobots and advanced imagination systems attached to robot arms opened up novel new applications and capabilities that group had lone fair started to contemplate being automatable. These days, many folks are blessed to chuckle off the Roomba and robotic grassland mowers as “basically a toy” and humanoid robots are (unfairly) scaring the rubbish out of everyone concerning their job prospects (or safety in the visage of someone’s robot army). All of these things encounter the ISO definition of robot that Tina used, but as a culture, we’ve moved on to calling item new a “robot” and starting to demote the another material since we’re not impressed alongside (read: frightened of) it anymore.

In short, a device is a robot whenever it makes us sit alongside uncomfortable truths concerning ourselves.

And my dishwasher does not power me to analyze my own existential purpose.

QED. Not a robot.