Social Issues

In light of contemporary discussions about the future of robots as "emotional laborers" and social service workers, Shalev Moran looks back at the history of underrecognized emotional services offered by Non-Player Characters in digital games and media, and what they can teach us about the role of robots in society

Robophobia or ‘fear of robots’ is a modern incarnation of the ancient fear of the next generation, fear of our own descendants. It can teach us much about our relationship with technology, the means of production, and the act of creation.

We’re marking the Robot centennial, 100 years of revolution and evolution, aspiration and agony, a century of mutual inspiration between industry and culture, art and policy, science and science fiction. At the heart of the Utopia “Master and Slaves” edition is the age-old naïve and un-answerable question – What is a Robot?

CoVid masks. Gas masks. Veils & niqabs. Fortnight Skins. Oxygen masks. Tactical masks. Instagram filters. Batman and Bane masks. A historical and personal voyage through the past 30 years of face coverings and masks, and through the uncanny anxieties and fears awakened when one covers their face.

A short science fiction story about the present.

אנו חושבים על הבית שלנו כמובן מאליו. למעשה, אנו לא חושבים עליו בכלל, לרוב. חוסר תשומת הלב הזה, העיוורון הזה, הוא פוליטי. לאורך השנה האחרונה נדרשנו להיות ספונים בבתינו – הוספנו להם משמעות, בעוד משמעותם נשחקה, אבל בעיקר – פתאום שמנו לב, לבית. ולכוחות שפועלים עלינו מחוץ ובתוך הבית, בנוגע לבית. מהו בית, כשיש כל כך הרבה יותר ממנו? ומה הם הכוחות הפוליטיים שמנסים לשנות את מערכת היחסים שלנו עם הבית?

The homey, uncanny year. We’ve all experienced in the flesh the unsettling feeling of the strangely familiar, the unheimlich. The Uncanny is all around us - in our haunted homes, beaming from our screens, in the streets - emptied out, now strangely revitalized, our cities, muted and mutated. It’s in the fabric of everyday life, in the sudden strangeness of daily routines. A fear not triggered by alienation... A fear coming from inside the house! Thoughts on the enemy within.

If literature departments in Israeli universities seek relevance, they must start teaching and exploring the work of acclaimed science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin