Living in a Mechanical World Trivia Quiz

Answer: William Gibson

"Neuromancer" (1984) was the debut novel for Gibson and it heralded the start of the "Sprawl" trilogy. In the initial story the Turing Laws have been established to ban the creation of super artificial intelligent (AI) beings. To circumvent this the Tessier-Ashpool family created two computers and separated them; Wintermute resides in Istanbul and Neuromancer in Rio de Janeiro.

Henry Case, a once talented computer hacker, is employed indirectly by the computer Wintermute to bring he and Neuromancer together. Gibson has managed to create the weirdest robots on the planet in this dystopian novel that earned him, not only the Nebula Award, but also, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award to boot.

Answer: Isaac Asimov

Olivaw is a humaniform, a robot designed to look like a human being. He is so life like that it is almost impossible to distinguish him from a human being. This is particular handy for him because it allows him to work undercover in a society that is strongly prejudiced against robots.

His only danger of exposure is if he is put into a scenario where he needs to refuse to do a task as it would violate one of the "Three Laws of Robotics". He first appears in "The Caves of Steel" (1953) where he teams up with detective Elijah Baley to solve the murder of Olivaw's co-creator, Dr. Sarton. R. Daneel Olivaw would share many other adventures with Baley and makes appearances in both the "Robot" and "Foundation" series by Asimov.

Answer: Martha Wells

Murderbot first appears in "All Systems Red", a 2017 novella that forms the first of four publications in a series called "The Murderbot Diaries". With a name like Murderbot you can take that he (or she) is not going to be friendly, after all, somewhere in its dim past it went on a rampage and killed 57 people.

In a space that is now run by corporations, Murderbot comes to the aid of the Preservation unit and uses its murderous powers to great effect. In the action it is seriously wounded and, in the process of restoring it, the Preservation team discover that Murderbot has actually become autonomous but has managed to keep that secret well hidden.

They keep it too.

Answer: Kid Koala

Kid Koala (real name Eric San) is better known as a DJ and his studio collaborations with Damon Alban's virtual band Gorillaz. In 2003 Kid published the graphic novel "Nufonia Must Fall" which featured the music loving robot T4. T4 is a silent one, in fact the entire novel has very little dialogue, but T4 has a love for music and he has fallen madly in love with a human, a female roboticist by the name of Malorie.

While he pines away his hours a newer, more efficient robot, T5, is slowly undermining his relevance by taking all his work away.

Answer: Ira Levin

Joanna Eberhart and her family move into Fairfield County, Connecticut and, after a while, she becomes extremely perturbed by the submissive nature of all the housewives and their lack of free will. She becomes convinced that they're all robots. The men all laugh at her fears. As her fears grow she looks to escape and is pursued by the town's menfolk, and this includes her husband. She is cornered in the woods where she accuses the men of turning their women into robots.

The real question is, are these women robots or simply brainwashed. Levin doesn't clarify in his 1972 thriller and the waters are further muddied by two subsequent movie releases. The first was Bryan Forbes' 1975 version, that soon developed a cult following. William Goldman, in his delightful script for this film, makes no bones about it and describes the women as robots. The sequel, "Revenge of the Stepford Wives" (1980) was a "made for television" film that starred Don Johnson. They do away with the notion that the women were robots and, instead, were merely brainwashed.

Answer: Robert A. Heinlein

Heinlein's novel "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" (1966) sees a penal colony established on the moon. HOLMES IV, which stands for High-Optional, Logical, Multi-Evaluating Supervisor, Mark IV is the super-computer that controls of the machinery on this lunar landscape.

As told through the eyes of Mannie, a computer technician, HOLMES gradually starts to become self-aware and develops a desire to acquire human traits and even grow a sense of humour. Mannie decides to re-name him Mike, after Mycroft, the brother of Sherlock Holmes.

Answer: Arthur C. Clarke

I have deliberately installed HAL after Mike ("The Moon is a Harsh Mistress") in this quiz, not because they're related but that they are polar opposites. Like Mike, he is in control of a colony that is off-Earth though, whereas Mike possesses a nativity and a certain innocence, looking to develop human traits, HAL's exposure to humans, sees him develop insecurities and jealousies.

He seeks to protect his space (pun not intended) and deliberately starts to kill off his human crew. Clarke's novel, "2001: A Space Odyssey" was written in conjunction with Stanley Kubrick, as Kubrick was developing the film.

The book was published in 1968, after the film.

Answer: Harry Bates

Henry Bates' book, "Farewell to the Master", was published in 1940 and it became the basis for the future film "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951). Gnut is an eight foot robot who emerges from his space craft, in Washington DC, with a godlike creature name Klaatu. No sooner does Klaatu announce who they are, he is shot by a crazed gunman and buried nearby. Gnut stands by motionless. Eventually a laboratory is built around him and the ship as scientist endeavor to study him, without success. Gnut does eventually sneak away in an attempt to get a recording of Klaatu's greeting, stored in the mausoleum with him before leaving the planet.

A reporter helps him in his quest and begs him to tell his masters that the death of Klaatu was an accident. Gnut looks at the reporter and says... "I am the master".

Answer: Osamu Tezuka

Astro first appeared as Mighty Atom in a 1952 manga series. In his storyline he is created by Dr. Tenma as a replacement for his son Tobio who is killed in a car accident. Whilst he is attached to Astro, he soon wearies of him when he realises that Astro does not exhibit any human emotions. Astro winds up in a circus where he is spotted by Professor Ochanomizu, the head of the Ministry of Science.

He purchases Astro and comes to realise that the robot has superior powers and... that he does have the ability to experience human emotions.

Answer: Douglas Adams

Marvin is a part of the five book trilogy that is the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", which has sprung from the highly fertile wit of Douglas Adams. Adams has invested Marvin with enormous intelligence and rather than being liberated by this, Marvin sinks into a well of despair and carries his gift like a millstone around his neck.

When asked to describe his life, he sprouts "The first ten million years were the worst, and the second ten million years, they were the worst too. The third ten million years I didn't enjoy at all.

After that I went into a bit of a decline." That is pure gold.