Robot Or Not?

Could it be? Are we all robots? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

What does a robot do when it gets to a web page with a checkbox that says “I’m not a robot”? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

The gate at Jabba’s palace in “Return of the Jedi” talks to droids, or has something inside it that talks to droids. So is it a robot? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

They roam the ocean, scanning for important data and relaying their information home. There are no humans on board. Are these lonely sea voyagers robots? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

The robotic guardian of the Beams. He looks like a bear but has a satellite dish on his head. He’s a thousand years old. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Game controller, robot, or total embarrassment? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

ˈrōˌbät or rōbət? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

An unadorned iPhone can be a Naked Robotic Core, but is it a robot? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Look who was under the tree! It’s a giant mechanical monster! John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Among the fiercest creatures in the machine kingdom are the Battlebots. They’re designed for fighting! But are they really robots, or is that just a clever marketing name? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

High school students carry them around and learn what it’s like to be a parent. Or you learn how to revive them by pressing their chest and breathing into their mouths. But are these learning tools also educational robots?

It patrols the mall. Sometimes it knocks over small children.

The HBO series “Westworld” makes us contemplate whether its central characters, the Hosts, are robots or not. (We recorded this episode after the first seven episodes of season one had aired; forgive us if it was revealed later that “To Serve Man” was actually a cookbook.)

A robot slowly turns himself human. When does he stop being a robot?

Sometimes Mario is metallic. Does that make him a robot?

They are boats with paddles. What else are they?

Straight out of “Star Trek” come these technological villains. Also, we discuss larger issues including AIs and hive minds.

It just keeps going, and going, and going….

Little cute robots from “Ghost in the Shell.”

Self-guided rockets and drone barges.