There is an interesting article on Americans default attitude towards robots. I do not speak so much of sci-fi robots– although sci-if often becomes reality soon enough– but of existing robots.

Sure we make heavy use of robots in places we can not go but that is based on a need. Once we have a choice robots just do not cut it here for most people. Somehow we have stopped seeing tools as tools and have started to expect something a little too abstract from a finite machine. One researcher went as far as to coin the term uncanny valley which refers to how people will react to a humanoid robots emotionally.

Perhaps one day robots will demand equal rights ala The Second Renaissance from The Animatrix. Maybe soon the derogatory term “robies” or some such thing will be coined to refer to robots who are not seen as equals. Who knows.

Use: http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13585-matrixstyle-virtual-worlds-a-few-years-away.html