The first episode of Humans we watched in class today directly related to Isaac Asimov’s Bicentennial Man and Caves of Steel. Synths have become a big part of this society for doing all kinds of work. Some people like Laura are much more wary of the idea. Laura doesn’t like when Anita is introduced into her home because she feels like Anita is taking her job away. Her daughter even says that her grades in school and all her hard work won’t actually matter because synths will just replace humans in the workplace completely. Synths being able to feel and act more like humans than ever before appears to be very concerning for Hobb as he is talking with Robert after getting hold of a synth named Fred. He is greatly concerned about how this could mean that robots could fully replace humans in every aspect of human life and thus there would be no need for humans at all. Asimov’s Caves of Steel the city of New York is against the integration of robots because they also believe that robots will take over all the jobs and leave them without any. This is also becoming an issue in our society as more and more jobs, such as assembly lines and factory storage, become automated. We have already seen the effects of what happens when an industry when it becomes automated. While it is cheaper to use robots than hire workers it leaves thousands of people out of a job.
In the episode we see that some one the synths were able to feel and think closer to how humans think. The first time we see this is when Leo is in the woods on the run with four synths that appear to be highly important or valuable. He kisses Anita on the forehead indicating that he loved her which he confirms later in the episode. Anita although she is a synth she is able to feel human emotions. In the Bicentennial Man Andrew is capable of human emotions and feelings but is treated much differently than humans just like these synths are treated in the show. They are used as a tool which seems totally fine until the become sentient beings and it becomes more of a type of slavery.