> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://nextbook.technosemiotics.eu/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://nextbook.technosemiotics.eu/technology-and-society/ancient-automata.md).
# Ancient automata
The concept ‘robot’ originates from Czech writer Karel Čapek.
However, automata are common through history both in the real world and in stories.
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### Mechanical and psychological spectacle
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### Temple automatics as power mechanism
Moving on to medieval Europe, the automata and artifice in stories merge with the concept of *Natura artifex*, inspiring the 17th-century notions of mechanical nature and clockwork-world, which have in turn contributed to our contemporary models of rationality, underlying the conceptualisation of current technologies.
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