Robots in Popular Culture: Androids and Cyborgs in the American Imagination - Hardcover

by Richard Hall (Author)

Robots in Popular Culture: Androids and Cyborgs in the American Imagination seeks to provide one go-to reference for the study of the most popular and iconic robots in American popular culture.

In the last 10 years, technology and artificial intelligence (AI) have become not only a daily but a minute-by-minute part of American life--more integrated into our lives than anyone would have believed even a generation before. Americans have long known the adorable and helpful R2-D2 and the terrible possibilities of Skynet and its army of Terminators. Throughout, we have seen machines as valuable allies and horrifying enemies. Today, Americans cling to their mobile phones with the same affection that Luke Skywalker felt for the squat R2-D2. Meanwhile, our phones, personal computers, and cars have attained the ability to know and learn everything about us.

This volume opens with essays about robots in popular culture, followed by 100 A-Z entries on the most famous AIs in film, comics, and more. Sidebars highlight ancillary points of interest, such as authors, creators, and tropes that illuminate the motives of various robots. The volume closes with a glossary of key terms and a bibliography providing students with resources to continue their study of what robots tell us about ourselves.

Author Biography

Richard A. Hall, PhD, is author of The American Superhero: Encyclopedia of Caped Crusaders in History; Pop Goes the Decade: The Seventies; The American Villain: Encyclopedia of Bad Guys in Comics, Film, and Television; and Pop Goes the Decade: The 2000s. He lives in Laredo, TX.