I Fight the Body Electric!

摘要

Everyone is talking aboutrncombat robots.rnFrom Hollywood blockbusterrnfilms to the battlefields ofrnIraq and Afghanistan, robotsrnare a hot topic of discussionrnand an increasinglyrnexpensive part of the militaryrnbudgets of forces around thernworld. But, what can reallyrnbe expected from them?rnPerhaps more importantly,rnwhat would we want them torndo?rnIn the pages of science fiction, robots are often the harbingers of the future. In 1962, Ray Bradbury wrote a kind-hearted account titled "I Sing the Body Electric." In Bradbury's tale, a widower with three children selects a robotic caretaker for his children. The robotic "grandmother" soon wins the hearts of the two youngest children, but garners only resentment from the youngest, a girl named Agatha. "Grandma" struggles to prove herself to Agatha until she demonstrates by an act of selflessness - risking her life for Agatha - that she can be more human than most humans. Ray Bradbury's "grandmother" provided a glimpse of robots as heirs to mankind's best side. Today, robots are vital keeping soldiers alive on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan and changing how wars are being fought. Today, to paraphrase Bradbury, robots can now claim: "I Fight the Body Electric."