In the first English version, made by Paul Selver in 1923, the intellectual machines of Karel Čapek, are described as ‘he’ and ‘she’ which meant not only their speaking abilities but also their humanlike form.
DOMIN (rings): Did you see my new typist?
He rings for SULLA.
HELENA: I didn't notice her.
Enter SULLA.
DOMIN: Sulla, let Miss Glory see you.
HELENA: So pleased to meet you. You must find it terribly dull in this out-of-the-way spot, don't you?
SULLA: I don't know, Miss Glory.
HELENA: Where do you come from?
SULLA: From the factory.
HELENA: Oh, you were born there?
SULLA: I was made there.
The word ‘robot’ was made well-known and popular by another great science-fiction genius – Isaac Azimov. In the revolutionary novel ‘I-Robot’, published in 1942, Azimov introduces robots and describes them as ‘he’ and ‘she’.
‘Robbie was a non-vocal robot. He couldn’t speak. He was made and sold in 1996. Those were the days before extreme specialization, so he was sold as a nursemaid’.
