War With the Newts: the unintended consequences of technology?

By Karel Capek (Karel first used the term “robot, ” Czech for serf)

‘War with the Newts’ is Karel Capek’s darkly humorous allegory of early twentieth-century Czech politics. Captain van Toch discovers a colony of newts in Sumatra which can not only be taught to trade and use tools, but also to speak. As the rest of the world learns of the creatures and their wonderful capabilities, it is clear that this new species is ripe for exploitation – they can be traded in their thousands, will do the work no human wants to do, and can fight – but the humans have given no thought to the terrible (unintended and not always well-meaning) consequences of their actions.

There are interesting parallels with the how we manage the introduction of any technology, for instance Artificial Intelligence.

“You don’t know what it is to rule millions of creatures that don’t think as we do, that don’t feel as we do, that don’t have the same soul as we do.”

The button above is an affiliate link. If you purchase a book through my Bookshop.org link, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you! Your purchase helps support independent bookstores. Thank you!