The author Isaac Asimov actually created a set of 'Laws of Robotics' to ensure a safe and productive relationship between robots and their human masters. Although now an established concept in science fiction, any realistic look at the genre reveals an array of robots, androids and the genetically manipulated who are constantly breaking down, flipping out and basically having a miserable time finding a way to constructively fit into the world of the very humans they're supposed to be helping.

If only machines would know their place! But, as dramatically (and repeatedly) proved by this year's Retrospektive, entitled Artificial Beings, the single most common factor involved in the breakdown of such subtle and sophisticated mechanics is, of course, the element of humanity.

The most common (and commonly filmed) example of this is the archetypal image of Boris Karloff in Frankenstein. The creation of an obsessively ambitious scientist, blind to the built-in flaw inherent in trying to make 'a new man' out of used parts, this so-called 'creature' is more aptly a tragic figure whose inability to reconcile his otherness with his desire for human acceptance forces him into the role of the monster he is physically perceived to be.

His literary ancestor would be the Golem, whose clay-like figure, most identified with Paul Wegener's silent classic Der Golem, was created as a mystical protector, only to have his humane power subverted by the worldly abuses of a human master.

The desire to manufacture human perfection is a common conceit, resulting in the race of homo superior in Gattaca, who turn the 'normals' into menial slaves, or the creation of a synthetic superman in Homunculus, whose bitterness at his one imperfection, the lack of a soul, leads him into a rampage of vengeance against a humanity who will never measure up to his manufactured precision. Even the inhumanly beautiful man-made woman Alraune in the film of the same name turns on her human creator to avenge her inability to love.

So ultimately 'they' really just want to be like 'us' and they want the one thing we have that they don't ­ love, or at least sex. The monster returns in The Bride Of Frankenstein to pester his recently married creator for a bride of his own. Max the 'Android' tries to get the girl in a stuttering imitation of Jimmy Stewart programmed in from old videos, while the hulking automaton Saturn 3, mimicking the personality of creator Harvey Keitel, wants to rip his way into Farrah Fawcett's pants.

Even the genetically humanised dog in Sorbace Serdce (Dog Heart) turns into a compulsive hound dog of a womaniser.

Naturally, there are also humans who want to do it with robots, as shown in Making Mr Right and Cherry 2000, and the Japanese have imagined some kinkily interesting variations of cyberpunk sex among machine/metal hybrids in both Tetsuo and Ghost In The Shell.

A sort of idealised humanity does seem conceivable, though. The killing machine of The Terminator rebels against its evil robot masters and takes on a human family in T2: Judgment Day, while the cyborg RoboCop rebels against his evil human masters and actually gets the girl. A sense of humanitarian socialism even wins out in Gibel Sensacii, where the robots side with their brother workers against the corporate bosses.

And, in the end, boy Blade Runner gets girl replicant. And for those who would prefer to share this more positive outlook, check out the schedule of special events organised by the Retrospektive to examine our past and future relations with artificial beings, including readings, lectures, music and even robot team soccer!

Andrew Horn