Some of the top researchers in the field are also fans of sci-fi.
Robin Murphy is a professor at Texas A&M University. She writes "Science Fiction, Science Fact," a series of provocative, engaging articles that highlight the differences between the robot and droids depicted in popular science fiction films and the best sci-fi TV shows.
Murphy explained in a column in the journal Science Robotics that the mechanical designs of the Star Wars movies are impractical and often no match for real robot designs.
She's the author of several MIT Press books on the topic, including "Robotics Through Science Fiction (opens in new tab) " and "Introduce to Artificial Intelligence (opens in new tab) " Murphy was the director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue from 2002 to 2018.
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Space.com spoke with Murphy about the wide gap between fictional characters and real ones in hit shows such as Disney Plus, and how modern robots might integrate into 21st century. The interview has been edited lightly.
There are robot movies in sci-fi.
Space.com wants to know what the goals of your science fiction articles are.
Murphy: With my innovative teaching, I use science fiction as case studies, and that helps students see a more complexecosystem than just worrying about a particular algorithm and to think larger about timed systems principles. We've seen some explorations of artificial intelligence in science fiction, but sometimes it's not right.
I write a column called "Science Fiction, Science Fact" to bridge the gap between fiction and reality. What is possible, what is feasible, what is plausible, and what should we do. If we should be thinking about it, because a lot of the time, the ethical ramifications will come out of science fiction.
Space.com wants to know if you have any associations with "Star Wars" and the early days of science fiction.
Murphy sneaked in and got his dad's copy of "The Green Hills of Earth" anthology, which was the first book he read. The game was going on. I consider myself to be a Heinlein person. A space station under construction is the first story in that book. The person said, "G.." The female electrical engineer in the story was mouthy and men could push on her, but she just pushed back. That has been my career so far.
I was in line to see Star Wars when it was released in 1977. After seeing "The Hidden Fortress", I realized all the similarities to "Star Wars'" two sidekick droids.
R2 gets real about the existence of the Star Wars Droid.
Space.com wonders why there aren't as many robot in the "Star Trek" universe as there are in the "Star Wars" one.
Data and the Borg are the only humans in the " Star Trek universe" The original vision of Gene Roddenberry was very human. People are good and that they can do good things, embrace change, and represent the best in the world. There wasn't much squabbling inside.
Does "Star Wars" get a pass since it's supposed to be set in a fictional past?
"Star Wars" was included in the best of the B-movie serials of the '30s and '40s. I don't want anything technical with this. We don't have "Flash Gordon" and "Emperor Ming". We now have Dune's sandworms with the Krayt dragon in "The Book of Boba Fett." The rules of "Star Wars" are not the same as those of other movies.
It's difficult to think of what they're getting right. I do not want "Star Wars" to be a robot documentary, but it is definitely not how you would do it. They're puttingrobots in for what people do. That won't work. It never has in the history of automation, and is really weird. Even though R2-D2 can understand human speech but can't generate human speech, we still have a robot that can teach us how to speak. It's the same. It's fun and I like it, but there's nothing wrong with it.
The dragon is large. We have a mining town that is being attacked by sandworms and we are doing mining but there is no automation. We mine that way now. If there is anything I relate to in the "Star Wars" universe, it is the Ewoks. Whenever I see an AT-AT or an AT-ST, I'm like, "Come on, bring it to me, sweetie" I'm able to get rid of this one quickly.
Space.com asked if you could watch "Star Wars" shows without your professor's hat on as pure entertainment or if you would analyze every mistake.
It's so wonderful. It was great. There is more baby koy. IG-11 is completely unrealistic in almost all possible dimensions.
What changes would you make to the "Star Wars" kingdom? Is it not important to the audience?
Murphy thinks it doesn't matter for entertainment. It would be interesting to try and figure it out. Zero tells Mando that he joined a criminal gang. How did it come to make that decision? Is that possible? They decided that they are no longer owned by people. You have the entire thing with IG-11. He's threatening to self-destruct, which could kill or hurt people.
The self-destruct sequence is hardcoded by the manufacturers to protect their intellectual property, but they would be liable for all that damage. It would be helpful if they looked more closely at the rules of when a droid can be free, when it's its own agent, and who built it. There are legal and ethical liabilities associated with them.
Space.com asked if there were any good examples of where Hollywood got the right machines.
The original "Westworld" is one of my favorites. How many people did it take to run that facility? There's a little bit of that in the "Westworld" series. We programmed it and that's it, there's a lot to it.
What do you think about the depiction of robot in film and TV?
Murphy doesn't know what they're aiming for in the movie. I liked the first three "Terminator" movies and even liked the last one. You have to return to the classics. I loved 2001: A Space Odyssey and you can argue about whether or not it's a robot. It is indeed. Change in the world can be affected by it. One of my favorites is "The Day The Earth Stood Still" I look at what's happening in Ukranian, and I wonder where he is. The replicants in the movie. There's a herd of three Boston Dynamics Spot robots in the movie "The Book of Boba Fett." There was a security robot that couldn't figure out how to get through. Fennec is the first person to use a drones. Mars rovers carry drones.
We don't pay much attention to marine vehicles and underwater. robots are going to be more accurate as props, that's what I believe in the future. We're not making a lot of progress in the area of robot characters because they're not human equivalents. You can keep doing a great movie, but it's not realistic.
Extrapolating legal and ethical issues with machines is something we should discuss more. The European Union wants to do robot right and says we need to treat them ethically. We're missing the mark when it comes to manufacturing dependability. Weed whackers are flown by drones. Accidents and deaths are associated with self-driving cars. The testing methods aren't being used anymore. The real issues we have to deal with in the next few years are undermined by one of the drawbacks of the sci-fi films.
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