When he legislated his robotic laws Asimov overlooked one final requirement: robots must be cute as the dickens.
“Robots on the Move,” a General Electric commercial touting its “innovative technology with the ability to communicate” plays on our nostalgia for a collection of robots with personalities to pitch the idea that GE is delivering what we always wanted.
Some of the robots appearing in the commercial are Data from ST:TNG, B-9 from Lost in Space, K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider, and Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet.
Thanks to John King Tarpinian for the story.
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I also saw Johnny Five (“Number Five is Alive!”) from the movie Short Circuit, Asimovian robots from the film of The Bicentennial Man, an Opportunity/Spirit Mars rover, and a small flying drone.
I wonder if Brent Spiner got paid for the use of his moving image?
There is a list of copyright acknowledgements posted with the video, ST:TNG among them, so I expect Spiner is taken care of however that works.
The robot’s Cuteness is its one critical concession to Darwin. Without motivating us to manufacture them, how would robots reproduce?
I recall the cartoon in Damon Knight’s book IN SEARCH OF WONDER which stated the Fourth Law: as “A robot must sell like mad.”