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Milestone · curated entry

Capek's R.U.R. gives us the word robot

R.U.R.

Date
1920
Category
Milestone
Organization / Model
Karel Čapek
Evidence
1 source · 1 evidence family

The Czech writer Karel Capek coined robot in the play R.U.R., about artificial labourers turning on their makers. Premiered in Prague in 1921, it became the cultural wellspring of imagining machines and arguing about AI ethics.

Curator's note: Cross-checked against the Wikipedia chronology and article; part of the pre-history of AI.

Curated sources · 1

  1. Reference material · Wikipedia1920-01-01

    R.U.R.

    en.wikipedia.org

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This page is a curated static snapshot and can be cited directly. Preferred format GB/T 7714—2025 (electronic resource [EB/OL]); the other 5 styles open below, together with the machine-readable files.

GB/T 7714—2025 (electronic resource [EB/OL])

AI 纪年. 恰佩克创作《R.U.R.》,“机器人”一词进入现代语汇[EB/OL]. (1920)[2026-11-03]. https://aihist.net/e/rur-1920.html.

APA 7 · American Psychological Association

AI 纪年. (1920). 恰佩克创作《R.U.R.》,“机器人”一词进入现代语汇 [Web page]. https://aihist.net/e/rur-1920.html

MLA 9 · Modern Language Association

"恰佩克创作《R.U.R.》,“机器人”一词进入现代语汇." AI 纪年, 1920, aihist.net/e/rur-1920.html. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.

Chicago 17 · notes-bibliography

AI 纪年. "恰佩克创作《R.U.R.》,“机器人”一词进入现代语汇." Published 1920. Accessed Nov. 3, 2026. https://aihist.net/e/rur-1920.html.

IEEE · citation-reference list

"恰佩克创作《R.U.R.》,“机器人”一词进入现代语汇," AI 纪年, 1920. [Online]. Available: https://aihist.net/e/rur-1920.html. [Accessed: 3 Nov. 2026].

ACM · author-date variant

AI 纪年. 1920. 恰佩克创作《R.U.R.》,“机器人”一词进入现代语汇. Retrieved November 3, 2026 from https://aihist.net/e/rur-1920.html.

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