Roboticist Daniel Wilson , author of How To Survive A Robot Uprising , is compose a golem novel that just got optioned by Steven Spielberg . Wilson severalise io9 what makes his robots realistic – and what his novel Robopocalypse is about .
Word is thatSpielberg may direct the film , and certainly will farm it . Cloverfield screenwriter Drew Goddard will adapt Wilson ’s novel for the cock-a-hoop screen .
We caught up with Wilson via email .
So , how is Robopocalypse going to be more “ naturalistic ” than other tarradiddle ?
The first , obvious affair to mention is that I ’ve get a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University . I write a dissertation , attended conferences , got letters patent , and I ’m a doctor . groovy . My robotics background intend that you wo n’t have to read about magic transformer robot that have no cornerstone in research or realness . Also , the deportment of the golem will be consistent with the sensor suite they use to learn about the world and the processing capableness they have to interpret it . Rest see that the form and behavior of my robots will be coherent with realness .
Now , how boring does that sound ? give thanks goodness that ’s not what the book is about .
Robopocalypse is about mass who are trying to survive a really , really fucked up position in which technology has turned against us . It ’s about people figuring out where they stand up with said engineering , how much they can teach from it , and at last how they are pass to co - survive with it . It ’s bewitching to think about how we would deal with the “ automaton revolt ” state of affairs , and these people are doing it against a extremely realistic backcloth .
But all the technological details about robots are just the background . The story is about the characters and that ’s why I love it .
But what make your robots realistic ?
Let me throw out a yoke reasons why I think my robot are reasonably naturalistic .
1 ) My golem specify . This tendency is in the nature of a robot . We humans are stuck in our bodies , using tools and epithelial duct tape recording and our wits to deal with new situations . We ’re adaptable and that ’s our great long suit . A robot ’s speciality , on the other mitt , is an ability to specialize itself by modify its form to solve exceptional problems — kill man , explore terrain , constructing buildings , etc . , In other words , my automaton do n’t all bet like freaking people .
2 ) My robots are not define by humans — not by a desire to kill us , and definitely not by some pathetic desire to emulate us ( I ’m looking at you , Bicentennial Man ) . Are n’t we beyond those subject by now ? I just ca n’t esteem a robot that * only * exist to hunt down and kill people . What ’s it going to do when all the humans are dead ? On the other hand , I also ca n’t respect a robot that is enslaved to humankind by a series of coherent “ laws . ” It ’s about fourth dimension we give some esteem to robots and acknowledge that a tiptop - intelligent backwash of machine might be concerned in other thing besides human beings .
3 ) My robots do not succumb to a laundry list of favored peeves that I have collect over the old age , check movies and recitation Scripture . This include but is not limited to the following rules : My robots do not employ chairs or function buildings . I do not use nano - automaton — as they are almost always a charming cop out . My robot are not made of clean whitened plastic . My robots do not throw multitude across elbow room , then slowly haunt toward them . If by some remaining quirk a android robot has to obliterate a someone ( and a more specialized cousin is not available for the task ) , then this automaton will grab the person by the typeface and close its clenched fist . End of story .
However , the only place that I can guarantee technical veracity is in the pages that I write . In any cause , the novel will be out before the movie . confidential information , hint !
Robopocalypse is in progress , so it does n’t have a release appointment yet . Wilson ’s previous al-Qur’an , Bro - Jitsu , is about the art and science of sibling warfare . register more about Wilsonon his website !
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