Karel Čapek was one of the first people who thought of a potential threat if machine-robot inventions happen too fast or without a regulation. Did he predict the threats of the 21st century? Or… are robots no danger for us? So far, robots can perform many quite easy tasks, but we want to challenge them! To celebrate the centenary of invention of the word "robot" we want to know if a robot can write a theatre play.

"Listen Josef," said the Czech playwright Karel Čapek to his brother. "I have an idea for a play." Josef, an artist of some renown, was painting furiously and unimpressed by his brother's intrusion. "What kind of play?" he asked, sharply. Karel set out the plot.

Nearly 100 years ago, the word "robot" was invented by the Czechoslovak brothers Karel and Josef Čapek. The word appeared for the first time in Karel's theatre play titled R.U.R. in 1920. The play is about humanoid robots who seem happy to work for humans at first, but later a robot rebellion leads to the extinction of the human race. The play achieved a fast international success when it was performed not only in Prague but also in London, New York or Chicago. Karel Čapek was one of the first people who thought of a potential threat if machine-robot inventions happen too fast or without a regulation.

Researchers at Charles University, Švanda Theater and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague are currently working on an intriguing research project that merges artificial intelligence and robotics with theater. Their project's main objective is to use artificial intelligence to create an innovative theatrical performance, which is expected to premiere in January 2021. "The main idea behind our study came from Tomáš Studeník, an innovator who noticed that the 100-year anniversary of the theater play R.U.R. is approaching," Rudolf Rosa, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told TechXplore. "This was a key moment for robotics, as the idea of a robot, including the word'robot' itself, was invented by Karel Čapek and his brother Josef, who wrote this play. Tomáš thought that this should be properly celebrated and came up with the idea of turning the story around: 100 years ago, a man wrote a theater play about robots; what if today, robots wrote a theater play about men?" Before they started working on their project, the researchers reviewed previous literature exploring the potential of artificial intelligence techniques for the creation of poetry, music, paintings, or other forms of art.