# What science fiction novels depict robots replacing human labor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 14, 2003, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-novels-depict-robots-replacing-human-labor/218880 "2003-12-14T02:46:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-novels-depict-robots-replacing-human-labor/218880/41 "2003-12-16T21:42:27Z")
Fondly Farenheit is a short story by Alfred Bester, already mentioned in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-novels-depict-robots-replacing-human-labor/218880/42 "2003-12-17T15:02:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ready29003 \* > \*\*I am looking for science fiction novels, short stories, or even movies that depict robots replacing human labor. > > Does anyone know other good ones?\*\* Well, there’s always _Bubblegum Crisis_, the sequel _Bubblegum Crash_, and the side stories in _A.D. Police_. In _Bubblegum Crisis_, which takes place in the futuristic Mega-Tokyo around AD 2032, most of what you get to see of the robots - known as “Boomers” - is as thugs: either bodyguards for the bad guys, or as mechanical soldiers (like the BU-12B) run amuck. The more sophisticated boomers are almost human (or perhaps superhuman), and it is clear that at least one model was designed primarily to provide humans with intimate companionship (the type 33-S, AKA “Sexaroid”). This is expanded upon greatly in _Bubblegum Crash_, where you get to see lots of boomers performing menial tasks such as coffee shop waitress (with a built-in coffee-maker, no less!), construction worker, and security guard. One episode, in fact, centers around a new type of Boomer (“Adama”) who is supposed to be more human than previous models… but I don’t want to spoil the plot. The original _A.D. Police_ series, based on a one-shot manga centered around one of the minor characters in _Bubblegum Crisis_, gives pretty much the same treatment as _Bubblegum Crisis_: Boomers are thugs that are largely a threat to be contained; although, in the episode “The Man Who Bites His Tongue,” we find sometimes that the solution may not be any better than the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-novels-depict-robots-replacing-human-labor/218880/43 "2003-12-17T15:47:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Little Nemo \* > \*\* > _The Bicentennial Man_, based on a novella of the same name by Isaac Asimov. \*\* I’ve seen the movie and read the story. You’re using the word “based” pretty loosely. ---
**Author:** ![Matt70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Matt70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Matt70)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-novels-depict-robots-replacing-human-labor/218880/44 "2003-12-17T17:59:12Z")
_City_ by Clifford D. Simak. It’s been a long time since I read it, but I think the robots were servants to people and animals. I don’t remember if they wanted to be free or not. Anyone else remember this one? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-novels-depict-robots-replacing-human-labor/218880/45 "2003-12-17T18:45:35Z")
My favorites stories along this line are by Anthony Boucher, from the early 1940s. In “Q.U.R.” [note the homage to R.U.R.] robots have taken over the work of humans so thoroughly that a crisis has hit because of massive robot failure. The reason for the failure: all the robots have been made in humanoid form no matter what their function and this has turned them neurotic! The sequel, “Robinc,” solves the problem by persuading the robots to take more comfortable functional forms. In other words, he back-forms the computer from humanoid robots! The future sure was different back then. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-novels-depict-robots-replacing-human-labor/218880/46 "2003-12-17T22:51:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Matt70 \* > \*\*_City_ by Clifford D. Simak. > > It’s been a long time since I read it, but I think the robots were servants to people and animals. I don’t remember if they wanted to be free or not. Anyone else remember this one? \*\* God, I just read this one last year. I thought I was the only other person who’d _heard_ of it, in recent decades. WONDERFUL book! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-novels-depict-robots-replacing-human-labor/218880.md?page=2)