The word "robot" first appeared in the 1921 science fiction play "R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)" by Czechoslovak playwright Karel Čapek. Derived from the Czech word "robota," meaning forced labor, it originally referred to a "mechanical slave" that performed work in place of humans. Since then, however, robots have evolved beyond simple labor substitutes into entities with diverse possibilities, driven by technological progress and human imagination.
Recently, artificial intelligence has rapidly entered a stage where it learns and makes judgments on its own through large language models (LLMs). Attention has now shifted to the evolution toward "physical AI." Robots with physical bodies that move in the real world are seen as the ultimate technology to replace human labor. Language- and data-driven AI serves as the brain handling cognition, while robots act as the body executing those functions in reality. The combination of the two is expected to lead a transformation that redesigns industrial structures and the future of humanity.
The new book "The Future of Robots" offers a multidimensional view of the robotics industry's present and future amid this wave of change. The author, Kong Kyung-chul, a professor of mechanical engineering at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), is a world-renowned robotics scholar who has researched human-robot interaction and next-generation robot intelligence. Having also founded a wearable robot company and led it to commercialization, Kong draws on experience and insights gained from both the laboratory and the industrial field.
The author focuses on the "robot wars" being waged by global big tech companies. He examines why Tesla, known as an electric vehicle company, is concentrating on robot development, the expanding potential of humanoids across manufacturing, logistics, healthcare and household tasks, and the massive investment competition centered on the United States and China. The book also traces the arc of technology from Japan's early humanoids to the latest robots, revealing a future of robotics evolving far faster than most people realize.
The fierce robot technology race presents both a crisis and an opportunity for South Korea. If the country fails to keep pace with technologies ranging from core components such as reducers and motors to software and robots-as-a-service, it risks remaining a permanent latecomer. Conversely, properly connecting technology with industry could create new opportunities. The author emphasizes that some Korean companies and research teams are already producing meaningful results in global competition, and that strategies to scale these efforts are critical.
Robots are no longer confined to factory floors. Their applications are rapidly expanding — from wearable robots that help people with disabilities walk again, to service robots that assist with daily life, to industrial robots that perform precision tasks. Robots are moving beyond mere replacements for human labor to become partners that complement and extend human capabilities.
The author stresses that "intelligent machines," once objects of fear, must now be recognized as entities with which humans must coexist. Recognizing the importance of robots as "a reliable pillar that safeguards human dignity and independence, beyond being a convenient tool" is the starting point of the technology race, he argues. The book is priced at 23,000 won.