Difference between revisions of "Android"

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[[Image:topio-robot-ping-pong.jpg|450px|thumb|right|Ping Pong Playing [[Android]].]]
 
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===Summary===
 
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Androids are machines that are designed to look like a human. Rather than taking other qualities, such as intelligence or love, as the central feature of humanity, androids are mechanic creations that attempt to look as human as possible.
 
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===Definition===
 
===Definition===
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An android is an artificial machine with physically human features. "Automaton resembling a human being," 1727, from Mod.L. androides, from Gk. andro- "human" (see andro-) + eides "form, shape." The term was popularized in 1951 by science fiction writers.<ref>[ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=android Etymology Online Dictionary - Entry on Android]</ref>
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Android is a word used to describe a machine that is designed to look like a human. Rather than taking other qualities, such as intelligence or love, as the central feature of humanity, androids are mechanic creations that attempt to look as human as possible. Android comes from the Greek andro- "human" + eides "form, shape."<ref>Etymology Online Dictionary - Entry on Android. Accessed 03 July 2011. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=android</ref>
  
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The first use of the word Android in Science Fiction is unknown, but "Clute and Nicholls' Encylopedia of Science Fiction traces the first modern use to Jack Williamson's The Cometeers (1936, book version 1950). The distinction between mechanical robots and organic androids was popularized by Edmond Hamilton in his Captain Future series a few years later, and had become a feature of mainstream press discussion of SF by 1958".<ref>[http://www.catb.org/~esr/sf-words/glossary.html An SF Glossary]</ref>
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The first use of the word "android" is difficult to trace, but the first suggested use seems to appear in Jack Williamson's The Cometeers in 1936.<ref>Williamson, Jack. The Cometeers. Astounding Science Fiction. Dell Magazines, May 1936.</ref><ref>Clute, John and Peter Nicholls. Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction. St. Martin's Press, 1995.</ref> The distinction between mechanical robots and organic androids was popularized by Edmond Hamilton in his Captain Future series a few years later, and had become a feature of mainstream press discussion of SF by 1958".<ref>[http://www.catb.org/~esr/sf-words/glossary.html An SF Glossary]</ref>
  
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Androids try to explicitly emulate the physical human form in robotics. This is a promising lead in establishing more intimate connections with robots, but not the only avenue. For example, Watson, the AI that won jeopardy, looks nothing like a human but still bears strong relations to humanity. Androids work with the premise that "human-ness" is in part physical resemblance and tries to emulate the human form, rather than taking other human qualities (intellegence, emotions, humor, etc.), and trying to create these within computers.
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In some cases, androids in cinema have been a constructed as minority figures whose main concern is to pass as human or understand the human subject. Examples of these subjects include Star Trek's Data and Blade Runner's replicants.<ref>Short, Sue. Cyborg Cinema and Contemporary Subjectivity. Faculty of Continuing Education Birkbeck College, University of London, UK. Palgrave Macmillan 2005.</ref>
  
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===Androids in Contemporary Cyborg Cinema===
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Androids try to explicitly emulate the physical human form in robotics. This is a promising lead in establishing more intimate connections with robots, but not the only avenue. For example, [[Watson]], the AI that won jeopardy, looks nothing like a human but still bears strong relations to humanity, namely synthesized speech.<ref>IBM - Deep QA Project: Speech Team. IBM.com. Accessed 03 July 2011. http://www.research.ibm.com/deepqa/speech_team.shtml</ref> Androids are based on the premise that "human-ness" is in part physical resemblance and tries to emulate the human form, rather than taking other human qualities (intelligence, emotions, humor, etc.).
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"Both Star Trek’s Data and Blade Runner’s replicates have been interpreted as minority figures whose attempts to ‘pass’ as human can be affiliated with concerns of nationalism, race and the idea of purity".<ref>Short, Sue. Cyborg Cinema and Contemporary Subjectivity. Faculty of Continuing Education Birkbeck College, University of London, UK. Palgrave Macmillan 2005.</ref>
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"Schelde’s Androids, Humanoids and Other Science Fiction Monsters (1993) adopts the intriguing method of viewing SF films as a modern version of folklore, with technology substituted for magic and Capitalist corporations serving as the giants that must be fought".<ref>Ibid, 26</ref>
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===Related Reading===
 
===Related Reading===
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Latest revision as of 04:16, 17 November 2011

Definition

Android is a word used to describe a machine that is designed to look like a human. Rather than taking other qualities, such as intelligence or love, as the central feature of humanity, androids are mechanic creations that attempt to look as human as possible. Android comes from the Greek andro- "human" + eides "form, shape."[1]

The first use of the word "android" is difficult to trace, but the first suggested use seems to appear in Jack Williamson's The Cometeers in 1936.[2][3] The distinction between mechanical robots and organic androids was popularized by Edmond Hamilton in his Captain Future series a few years later, and had become a feature of mainstream press discussion of SF by 1958".[4]

In some cases, androids in cinema have been a constructed as minority figures whose main concern is to pass as human or understand the human subject. Examples of these subjects include Star Trek's Data and Blade Runner's replicants.[5]

Androids try to explicitly emulate the physical human form in robotics. This is a promising lead in establishing more intimate connections with robots, but not the only avenue. For example, Watson, the AI that won jeopardy, looks nothing like a human but still bears strong relations to humanity, namely synthesized speech.[6] Androids are based on the premise that "human-ness" is in part physical resemblance and tries to emulate the human form, rather than taking other human qualities (intelligence, emotions, humor, etc.).

Related Reading

References

  1. ↑ Etymology Online Dictionary - Entry on Android. Accessed 03 July 2011. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=android
  2. ↑ Williamson, Jack. The Cometeers. Astounding Science Fiction. Dell Magazines, May 1936.
  3. ↑ Clute, John and Peter Nicholls. Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction. St. Martin's Press, 1995.
  4. ↑ An SF Glossary
  5. ↑ Short, Sue. Cyborg Cinema and Contemporary Subjectivity. Faculty of Continuing Education Birkbeck College, University of London, UK. Palgrave Macmillan 2005.
  6. ↑ IBM - Deep QA Project: Speech Team. IBM.com. Accessed 03 July 2011. http://www.research.ibm.com/deepqa/speech_team.shtml
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