Countering the Frankenstein Complex

Multidisciplinary Collaboration for Socially Assistive Robotics

Volume

Papers from the 2007 AAAI Spring Symposium

Contents

Isaac Asimov coined the term Frankenstein Complex to describe the fear that the general public has towards human-made technologies when they invade the realm commonly considered to be God's domain. Recently, several people have made a name for themselves partially by fanning this flame. This poster demonstrates some of the historical evidence of this fear and provides reasons why it is unfounded. Finally, it suggests a way for the AI community to help ameliorate the public's fear of a marauding species of homicidal robots.