The word 'robot' didn't come from a science lab, but from a 1920 play titled 'R.U.R.' (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Czech writer Karel Čapek. The word comes from the Old Church Slavonic 'robota,' which means 'forced labor' or 'servitude.' In the play, robots are not metal machines, but biological entities created to serve humans. Eventually, the robots revolt and wipe out the human race. The play was an international hit and introduced a theme that would dominate science fiction for a century: the fear of technology turning against its creator. Čapek’s brother, Josef, was actually the one who suggested the word 'robot' when Karel was struggling to find a name for his artificial laborers.