Bringing the Robots Back In

Robots have almost entirely disappeared from "serious" science fiction. (What I mean by "serious" science fiction is writing by the most innovative authors in the field. "Serious" work can be humorous--and much of it is. I know I'm behind the curve with regard to innovation, but I'm thinking of the big splashes of the past couple of decades, starting with Gibson and Sterling and Willis through relative newbies like Nicola Griffith, Iain Banks, Charles Stross, and Ken MacLeod.) They're still around in movies and TV ("A.I. Artificial Intelligence", "I, Robot", "Star Trek: The Next Generation") and in strictly commercial SF writing (e.g., the evil robot Erasmus from the uninspired DUNE prequels), but they're not cutting edge any more. One reason for this is that we already have "real" robots, like the "smart" machines that handle various parts of auto assembly, the silly Roomba vacuum cleaner, and the equally silly Robo Sapien. A more significant reason, I think, is that robots as an idea predate computers. Robots were AIs before "AI" was "invented." Now, it seems quaint that we once thought that human or superhuman intelligence could only be found, or should only be found, in human form. Instead, we have the ultra-smart version of the desktop computer taking over the world. Today's SF features disembodied AIs, on one hand, and "meat puppets" on the other. Humans "upload" into computer storage (see, e.g., Bear's EON or Pohl's THE BOY WHO WOULD LIVE FOREVER), while AIs "download" into human bodies (e.g., Moriarty's SPIN STATE). (People can also download into "real" or artificial bodies, as in Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs books, Brin's KILN PEOPLE, etc.) Or, more frighteningly, humans can be taken over by "hacks" (e.g., Stephenson's SNOW CRASH, Goonan's LIGHT MUSIC) or mind control devices (Vinge's A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY, Stross' IRON SUNRISE) that reprogram their mental "software". Who needs robots when you have "meat puppets"?

I think we can bring robots back in, but they have to be reconceived robots. They're not going to be nice Robbies, but they're not going to be evil Erasmuses either. They're not going to be Pinocchios like Data or the kid from "AI". What do you think? What will the next generation of SF robots look like?