Robots on Earthby Jerry WestExplosions. Car chases. A man and woman, drenched in sweat,limping from a building as it crumbles to the ground, muster thelast of their strength to rescue humanity from its inevitableextinction at the cold, metal hands of humanoid creatures withartificial intelligence gone awry. For decades, books and movieshave dictated how we think of robots. Simply the word "robot" canbring to mind images of evil, mechanical creatures bent on takingover the world and wiping out every glimmer of humanity. Andyet, the truth of machines is dramatically different. Today's robotshold little in common with their villainous cousins from action-packed science fiction. Most robots have no interest in harmingthe human population at all; they exist to aid people in makinglife safer, healthier, and more productive. The main idea of thisparagraph is what most people think when they hear the wordrobot.
