The Greeks dreamed of automata, the Jews of golems, and now we've coded bots into powerful servants. Can our ancient quest for artificial life reveal our ethical obligations to today’s creations? 

Guest Speaker:

Elly Truitt, who holds a Ph.D. in the History of Science from Harvard University and an M.Phil. in Medieval History from the University of Cambridge, is a historian specializing in the circulation of scientific knowledge and objects across Eurasia and North Africa from antiquity to the early modern period. Her work, including the acclaimed Medieval Robots: Mechanism, Magic, Nature, and Art (2015), explores the role of automata in medieval culture and the ethical questions they raised about identity and creation.

Reading List:

• 
  Medieval Robots by Elly Truitt


• 
  Machines as the Measure of Men by Michael Adas


• Books & Essays by Stanislaw Lem
  


• Greek myths featuring Hephaestus and mechanical servants
  


• 
  "Did the Greeks Believe in Their Robots?" by Martin Devecka


• 
  “Israelite Kingship, Christian Rome, and the Jewish Imperial Imagination: Midrashic Precursors to the Medieval ‘Throne of Solomon'” by Ra’anan Boustan

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