A play about the revolt of human workers — not machines — gave us the word 'robot'

A Boston Dynamics robot is seen on a media tour at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant, in Ellabell, Ga., in March.

A Czech playwright introduced the word to English in the 1920s. But back then, it wasn't analogous to machinery. New interpretations of the robot reflect a modernity once skewered by the writer.

(Image credit: Mike Stewart)