Robots were dreamt up 100 years ago – why haven’t our fears about them changed since?

The world's first robots, created by playwright Karl Čapek, appeared on a Prague stage in January 1921. This long read asks: why are we still in thrall to Čapek's once-original narrative?

This is a story you will have heard before.

A genius but completely mad scientist – with the backing of a ruthlessly greedy corporation – creates a sentient robot. The scientist’s intentions for the robot are noble: to help us work, to save us from mundane tasks, to serve its human masters.

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