The Blueprint for All Cinematic Robots

Seventy years ago, we got something new and different: a science fiction movie about space travel that took itself seriously. The 1956 movie Forbidden Planet had a Hollywood budget, talented actors, and a design team ready to delve into the future. One of the things they designed was Robby the Robot. 

This robot was born at the intersection of several trends of the time. Americans were suspicious of technology as a whole, but they loved appliances that made their work easier. Scientists at Yale were beginning to conceive of artificial intelligence. Real robots were on design tables. And Isaac Asimov worked out the rules making robots safe for human interaction. Robby was impressive, useful, safe, and had his own personality. He made people like the idea of robots, and his influence on later cinematic robots lasted decades. However, the 21st century idea of artificial intelligence may need to take a lesson or two from Asimov.