When people discuss the origin of robots, they usually think of the science fiction of the early to mid-20th century, when machines similar to our current conception of robots began to enter the public imagination. The term itself originated in the writing of Czech playwright Karel Capek, whose “Rossumovi Univerzalni Roboti” in a 1920 play was the first time the word “robot” was used in its modern sense. Taking a scholarly view, it could be argued that robots originated in the Middle Ages with the first moving machines; or perhaps in the work of Muslim scholar Ismail al-Jazari, who devised complex mechanical devices, including automatons, in 12th-century Mesopotamia. However, the concept of robots has been around for a lot longer than that. Artificially created beings appear in writings and myths from Ancient Greece, often with a dire warning: humans and robots shouldn’t mix.

Some scholars have argued that The Iliad, written by Homer around 800 BC, contains the first recorded depiction of intelligent yet soulless beings. Homer described “handmaidens wrought of gold in the semblance of living maids” that was crafted by Hephaestus, the god of blacksmithing. These automatons were created specifically with the purpose of serving Hephaestus and the other gods. However, the message in The Iliad was clear. These servants were meant for the gods, and the gods only. Artificial intelligence was too complex and too dangerous for mortals to grapple with.

Intelligent yet synthesized life appeared again in Hesiod’s Works and Days, dated around 700 BC. Though she is often depicted as a human woman, Hesiod describes Pandora as an artificial being with “both human voice and strength” as well as “a face like a deathlike goddess” built by Hephaestus and given “a dog-like shameless mind and thieving ways” by Hermes. Like an evil robot from a modern science fiction movie, Zeus sends this fabricated being on a mission to Earth to punish humans for discovering fire. Everyone knows how this myth ends: Pandora unleashes a multitude of evils on humankind. Again, the ancient Greeks cautioned against the dangers of artificially synthesized intelligence, and the potential consequences if they are left unmonitored.

A third recorded instance of a robot-like figure in ancient Greek literature is the giant bronze automaton Talos of Crete. Talos appears in various writings from the time, including Works and Days as well as Argonautica, an epic poem by Apollonius of Rhodes from around 200 BC. Talos’s origins vary in different versions of the tale, but his purpose was to protect the island of Crete from invaders, and his bronze body and great strength suited him well to this task. Talos is the clear likeness of robots in modern popular culture: a metal humanoid who is powered internally. In fact, descriptions of Talos’s power system are eerily similar to the network of electrical wiring that powers robots today. Talos has internal tubes through which an undescribed life force flows. When the sorceress Medea eventually defeats him, she does so by unstopping a bolt in his foot and releasing this life force. This mirrors the unplugging one would use to deactivate a modern-day robot. Talos was initially built to serve and protect the citizens of Crete. However, he eventually turned on them, preventing the Cretians from leaving their own island. Again, the ancient Greeks warn of the danger of artificial intelligence, and how quickly it can turn from its intended function to a malicious one.

Through these three instances, the ancient Greeks cautioned of the potential harms of robots and synthesized intelligence. From the handmaidens, one learns that the simulation of life is too complex for mortals to understand. Pandora demonstrates the destructive potential of artificial life. Finally, Talos shows how a constructed humanoid being might veer from its intended purpose and turn on its masters. Although the Greeks didn’t come close to inventing these machines, they warned of a future in which these machines would exist and the dangers this might bring. This future has arrived. While the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence have great potential, one should heed the advice of the ancient Greeks, and be wary.