Investor’s Daily poll (20 July 2026)

Thank you — your vote has been counted.

Long before ChatGPT and Tesla Optimus, where did the word "robot" first come from?

An ancient Greek invention 348 votes (32.0%)
A 1920 stage play 273 votes (25.1%)
NASA engineers 206 votes (19.0%)
Isaac Asimov's novels 259 votes (23.8%)

Total votes: 1,086

Answer: A 1920 Czech play, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) by Karel Čapek. Interestingly, Čapek credited his brother Josef with suggesting the word. “Robot” comes from the Czech robota, meaning forced labour or drudgery.

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