An android is a robot that looks similar to a person.
An android is a robot whose appearance is similar to that of a human being . Androids are automated machines that, due to their configuration, are able to imitate certain actions performed by man.
Androids are very popular in the field of science fiction . In literature and cinema, the creation of highly advanced androids, equipped with artificial intelligence and capable of surpassing man in many aspects, has frequently been imagined. In reality, however, androids' abilities are more limited.
Examples of androids
If we focus on the books, an example of an android is the character of R. Daneel Olivaw , created by Isaac Asimov . This android helps Detective Elijah Baley in the investigation of different crimes . In the film industry, one of the most famous androids is Terminator T-800 , played by Arnold Schwarzenegger .
For science , copying the physical appearance of a human being is a great challenge that sometimes makes no sense, since machines can perform certain human tasks without the need to have a similar physical structure. There are androids, however, that became known for their level of development, such as ASIMO , created by Honda in 2000 . This android, in addition to aiming to promote scientific study, can assist individuals with mobility problems. In any case, neither ASIMO nor any other real android has managed to achieve, so far, the functioning of fictional androids, although experts continue working on the subject.
Androids are common in fiction.
The Terminator story
Cinema often presents the potential problems of populating the Earth with intelligent androids that coexist with human beings. Returning to the case of the Terminator film series, when the processors reach a level of artificial intelligence and autonomy that is too high, they manage to take over the power of the world and subject human beings to their will, beginning an era of terror from which it seems impossible. have exit; For this reason, the leader of the revolution against the machines, John Connor , sends an android to the past to prevent technology from advancing to that point.
It is a very particular plot, in which the human being uses the technology that has managed to dominate him against himself, since he considers it the only weapon capable of destroying himself. Although at the time of the launch of the first two Terminator installments there were still no mobile phones or flat-screen televisions, today we live among devices that communicate with each other, and this includes such "basic" appliances as refrigerators (refrigerators). ); For this reason, it is a peculiar case among known science fiction stories, since it becomes more realistic with the passage of time.
The androids from "The Substitutes"
The film "The Substitutes" , directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell , presented a quite different proposal in 2009 : it tells the difficult reality of a future time in which human beings no longer leave their homes, but They control androids that represent them in the outside world to carry out their daily activities, whether it is going to work, shopping or spending time with their friends.
The fear of aging, inextricably linked to death, is one of the main themes of this story in which people are ashamed to show their true appearance and prefer to remain inert for much of their day while they give their lives to a doll. .
In any case, the main problem of human beings seems to be the lack of satisfaction with the tools that nature has given them: the creation of weapons, means of transportation and robots, among many other tools that they use to enhance their abilities , is a clear example of this.