Automatons

Automatons have been around for hundreds, if not, thousands of years, when simple principles of pulley systems, cogs and wheels were used to provoke movement; movement which might be mistaken for that of something living. 'Automaton' comes from the Greek meaning; 'that which acts of its own will'. It was first used by Homer to describe the self opening of doors in the Illiad, but has since been more associated with machines that have been made to resemble humans or animals.

Historical view:

One of the greatest pioneers of automatons was Ktesibios (first head of the great library of Alexandria) who made the first cuckoo clock and used hydro power to sound a whistle and make an owl move. The tradition of engineering in the realm of automatons continued in Alexandria for years; whereby Heron progressed the field massively in terms of programmable carts, siphons, water organs etc... But I want to ultimately talk about those designs which were made to replicate human or animal motions or reasoning.

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From Hellenistic Greece; Rhodes, or Corrinth in Scicily (Hence Archimedes) (Pindar's seventh Olympic Ode 464 B.C.):

The animated figures stand

Adorning every public street

And seem to breathe in stone, or

move their marble feet.

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What a marvel it would have been to see statues or figures move in stone, in a time where running water was not common place, where music was only heard from the presence of musicians, from a time where food and clothing was made by your own hand. Would it ever have become commonplace, would the novelty ever wear off? Even now, to think about, where you would have moving statues, is something I would get very excited about.

But the automaton origin might go even further back than that. According to Jewish legend, Solomon used his wisdom to design a throne with mechanical animals which hailed him as king when he ascended it; upon sitting down an eagle would place a crown upon his head, and a dove would bring him a Torah scroll. It's also said that when King Solomon stepped upon the throne, a mechanism was set in motion. As soon as he stepped upon the first step, a golden ox and a golden lion each stretched out one foot to support him and help him rise to the next step. On each side, the animals helped the King up until he was comfortably seated upon the throne. And in ancient China, a curious account of automata is found in the Lie Zi text, written in the 3rd century BC. Within it there is a description of a much earlier encounter between King Mu of Zhou (1023-957 BC) and a mechanical engineer known as Yan Shi, an 'artificer'. The latter proudly presented the king with a life-size, human-shaped figure of his mechanical handiwork. A creature meticulously designed to impersonate a real person, complete with artificial organs and limbs, which could walk and sing and wink. The origin of the pursuit of the automaton, to create a mechanical instrument to replicate human movement, to move without the aid of a person, has been something in the mind of man which goes back further than historical record can show. It is no surprise this fascination, this birthing of creation beyond the primal capacity for procreation into intelligent design is something which has prospered throughout the ages. It can be viewed as an attempt of humans to become something greater than themselves; to enact the powers of Godliness; perhaps as a way of showing our power, but maybe as a way of ordaining our respect for God.

Automaton examples:

Moving further into the contemporary age; where there is evidence to support such designs, we have a number of starting points, but I wish to look at Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci was obsessed with all things innovative, and whilst pin pointing the body in its various complexities on the operating table and on the canvas, making war machines, and creating flying machines, it is no wonder that he too worked on automatons in his time too. I mean, it wasn't quite like the TV series 'Da Vinci's Demons' dramatised it; with a golden phoenix flying over the crowds of spectators and dazzling them with fireworks, but for its time, his designs were at the forefront of technological advancement. Da Vinci designed a hydraulic water clock and a robotic lion, but also designed and likely manufactured the first robot man – 'The Germanic Knight' in 1495. According to Da Vinci’s sketches of the key components, the knight was to be powered by an external mechanical crank and use cables and pullies to sit, stand, turn its head, cross its arms and even lift up its metal visor.

Not long after, 'The mechanical monk' was created in Spain; where it is believed that King Phillip II commissioned the well recognised clock-maker and inventor Juanelo Turriano to build a life-like recreation of the beloved Franciscan friar 'Diego De Alcala' (Later Saint Diego). Built by 1640, the automaton could walk a perimeter, mutter prayers, beat his chest, nodding its head in prayer, and kissing the rosary and cross with his left hand. The remarkable thing is that this 450 year old device is still in operation and is on display at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.

The still-functional “Silver Swan” is an avian automaton originally constructed by showman James Cox and watchmaker John Joseph Merlin in 1773. Using a trio of clockwork motors, the piece recreates the scene of a preening swan floating in a babbling brook. Levers and springs allow the bird to bend its neck and open its bill with startling realism, and an assortment of camshafts and

glass rods create the illusion of a moving body of water with swimming fish—one of which the swan appears to catch and eat. The machine also includes its own soundtrack provided by an internal music box. Before being purchased by Durham, England’s Bowes Museum in 1872, the Silver Swan was exhibited in James Cox’s Mechanical Museum in London and at the 1867 Paris International Exhibition. Novelist Mark Twain saw the swan during a tour of France, and later wrote that the automaton fowl had “a living grace about his movement and a living intelligence in his eyes.”

Swiss inventor Pierre Jaquet-Droz originally made his name as a designer of luxury watches, but he is now remembered as the creator of three of the 18th century’s most extraordinary automatons. First built in 1768, “The Writer” was a two-foot-tall doll designed to look like a boy sitting at a desk. Using a series of coded disks set on a spindle and thousands of moving parts, the robot could dip a goosefeather quill in an inkwell and write up to 40 pre-programmed characters on a sheet of paper. Along with his son, Henri-Louis, and an associate, Jaquet-Droz later developed two more early humanoid robots that worked on the same principle. “The Draughtsman” used a pen to draw four pictures—including a portrait of King Louis XV—while “The Musician” played five different songs on a fully functional organ. Each of the robots’ eyes would move to follow their actions, and “The Musician” was also designed to heave her chest as she “breathed” and take a bow in between tunes. The Jaquet-Droz automatons were exhibited to astonished crowds in Europe’s royal courts in the late-18th century, and were later turned over to a museum in Switzerland. Amazingly, all three remain in perfect working order to this day.

If something can mimic the act of life, then what is life? Is an automaton which can do this alive? This is where some early metaphysical ideas came from; regardless that watchmakers would produce such results as a kind of bragging right amongst the watchmaker elite.

Distinction:

The difference between automatons and robots is that an automaton merely mimics an action, whereas a robot's design comes from fulfilling an action. Doing something that would be otherwise done by human hand. The term 'android' is said to have been first used in 1863 when referring to miniature human-like toy automatons, a term which comes from the Greek, meaning 'likeness of human being'.The word 'robot' was first used to denote a fictional humanoid in a 1921 play R.U.R. by the Czech writer, Karel Čapek.

Future:

The future of robotics is certified, working in industry since the industrial revolution, powering the modern world. But what of androids, mechanised automatons which increasingly get closer to human resemblance, where the divisions become less clear. Ever since science-fiction writers began thinking of the point where machine intelligence outgrows that of humans, the insecurity of ourselves become more compelling - will they rise up against us?

The current status is nothing to worry about, as androids are still very clunky, and operate on basic operational criteria, but with enough time, this will indeed change. We have invented a very adept machine brain, AKA the computer, and we have the capabilities of manufacturing the body, so it comes down to time for the two to operate in a singular vessel, whereby it is free to decide its own fate. It is inevitable; if it can be conceived by the mind, in all likelihood it can one day be achieved . If one person can make something, it lends itself to the fact that in all likelihood another can too – as a person possesses that of which makes him/herself. So, to quell progress, is more often than not to stunt the fact that one day it will be done. If you, as a designer, inventor or scientist have trepidation about developing something, what needs to be understood is that, if you are able to, then another is too. It's the curve of progress which allows an individual to be granted the same prior information to be welded together to form new innovative ideas. A creator of conscience is always more beneficial to society than detrimental.

Obviously, the counter argument to simply going ahead with progress despite the concerns is the expansion of more complete and heinous weaponry of destruction. Weaponry has always been at the forefront of terminological advancement; whereby those with the bigger weapons call the 'shots' on the world front. It is an inevitability in a corporate world whereby death is still a financial industry. But what really is a weapon? A weapon is only a weapon when a form of energy delivery is stemmed to do so. Alongside the capabilities of a weapon are steps in all science, as the mechanics of a weapon can be used in other ways. But, this may not be convincing, the truth is that a weapon is designed to kill, a thing I cannot condone, but as I said, until it ceases to provide immense wealth to those constructors, then it will modernise and become more lethal as long as science and progress are the staples of society. Getting rid of barriers could help mend divisions between people, however, people generally cannot rid themselves of their fight or flight tendencies; meaning war will always be a thing.

Anyway, robotics and the automaton legacy will persevere, through thick or thin. Through it we will see more and more complex designs branching off into the real world, and increasingly haze the distinctions of ourselves. It will indeed get to a point where as in Isaac Asimov stories, there will be very little to differentiate between a machine and a person. At that point, we will really have to ask ourselves, what is life? As humankind had to look upon their own prejudices in the 'Bicentennial man', we will likely have to do the same one day with androids, as we have done about sexism, racism, nationalism, and gender identity. It will be a fascinating day where us humans, accept the creations of ourselves as being equal to ourselves, a step even God, in all his humbleness, cannot claim.