The Skeptics Society & Skeptic magazine

Episode Notes for
The Robot Apocalypse

Photo by Thomas Patterson

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WHEN THE ROBOTS TAKE OVER, will we all be forced to speak bocce? Author and robotics engineer Daniel H. Wilson visits MonsterTalk to discuss the nature of robots and the risk of a robot apocalypse. Steven Spielberg has purchased the rights to produce a film version of his New York Times bestseller, Robopocalypse.

References

• The Mechanical Turk
• Big Dog robot
• Cheetah robot
• Asimo by Honda
• Self Driving Cars

Book Links

• The Turk by Tom Standage
• Wired for War by PW Singer
• I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
• The 9 Billion Names of God by Arthur C. Clarke
• The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil

Books by guest Daniel H. Wilson

• Amped
• Robopocalypse
• Robogenesis
• How to Survive a Robot Uprising

Old Computer Game Links

• M.U.L.E. planet colonization video game (more fun than you might imagine)
• Planetfall by Infocom — available on iTunes via Infocom

Movie Links

• The Dark Crystal
• West World

Music

• Monstertalk Theme: Monster
  by Peach Stealing Monkeys

The views expressed on this program are not necessarily the views of the Skeptics Society or Skeptic magazine.