When Technology Runs Amok

Daniel H. Wilson's new book, How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion, is a must-have survival handbook for anyone who has ever been suspicious of machines. Like Stephen King’s prophetic 1986 film, Maximum Overdrive, this book warns mankind that machines are resentful and fickle. Behind their deceptively innocuous surfaces of plastic and metal, they plot their coup to overthrow human dominion. Given the right circumstances (e.g., a small group of unsuspecting people loitering in a desolate truck stop while Earth passes through the tail of a mysterious comet), they will rebel! Wilson, a Ph.D. candidate at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, is our modern Emilio Estevez, a young hero taking it upon himself to rescue anyone who is willing to follow. More knowledgeable and astute than his predecessor, Wilson’s is a preemptive work designed to help humans survive the inevitable machine rebellion. Although Wilson frequently deviates from the important theme of the book in order to provide robotics history trivia and brief descriptions of current robot research, never forget that when your VCR flashes the time, it’s deliberate! Also, try to avoid truck stops—just in case.