Whatever they look like, robots are being welcomed as friends and personal assistants in Japan, for reasons that are both ancient and contemporary. The nation's chief religions - Shintoism and Buddhism - are extraordinarily open to robots in people's lives. In the book "Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots," Canadian science technology writer Timothy N. Hornyak notes that when industrial robots were introduced into Japanese factories, they were welcomed with Shinto rites and were considered a part of the staff.
在日本，無論機器人看起來像什麼，都被當成朋友和個人助理受到歡迎，原因是既古老又現代。該國的主要宗教─神道教和佛教尤其能夠在民眾生活中接納機器人。在《讚美機器─日本機器人的藝術與科學》一書中，加拿大科技作家洪亞克注意到，當工業機器人被引進日本工廠時，受到神道禮儀的迎接，並被視為是職員幕僚的一部分。

Masahiro Mori, an emeritus professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, is famous for a theory called the "Uncanny Valley," which holds that as robots become more humanlike, people's empathy increases until a sudden point at which the machine seems like the living dead.
東京技術學院名譽教授森昌弘以一項稱為「詭異谷」的理論而聞名。該理論認為，隨著機器人更像人，人的同理心遽增到似乎把機器人當活死人一樣。

Masahiro Mori, author of the book "The Buddha in the Robot," believes that robots can have Buddha-nature. Human beings, said Mori, should have an intimate relationship with the things they create. If you make something, your heart will go into the thing you are making. If a robot is an external self, a robot is your child. An elderly woman who was dying of heart disease wanted her Wakamaru to attend her funeral. Her wish was granted.
《機器人中的佛》一書的作者森昌弘相信，機器人可以有佛性。人類應該與自己創造的事物有一種親密的關係。如果你製作某件東西，你的心就進入你所做的東西裡面。如果說機器人是一個外在的自我，機器人就是你的孩子。一位罹患心臟病的老婦人臨終前，希望她的機器人Wakamaru能參加她的葬禮，她的心願達成了。

This view is so contrary to Western religions that Honda, developing ASIMO,sent representatives to the Vatican in 1996 to gauge how humanoid robots might be received. The reaction was supportive, and Honda proceeded. Mitsubishi's machine has begun establishing the kind of robot-natural human relationships that Japanese scientists expect to become commonplace.
這種見解違反了西方宗教信仰，因此，本田公司在開發機器人ASIMO時，於一九九六年派代表到梵蒂岡評估機器人可以被接受的人格化程度。本田受到支持，持續進行研發。
 
三菱已開始建立機器人與自然人關係的機種。日本科學家預期這將成為普遍的趨勢。

Japan's manga (comic books) and anime (animation) contribute to the country's welcoming nature toward robots. Many Japanese scientists grew up as admirers of the cartoon characters such as Mighty Atom (also known as Astro Boy), a robot that keeps the peace among human beings.
日本漫畫書和卡通動畫助長了該國歡迎機器人的自然現象。很多日本科學家成為卡通人物的仰慕者，例如鐵臂阿童木（又稱原子小金剛）是一個維持人類和平的機器人。

In the United States and the rest of the Western world, enthusiasm for robots is tempered by skepticism. In the West, there seems to be a strong tendency over decades to view robots as something evil, like technology run amok. An international group led by Italian roboticist Gianmarco Veruggio unveiled the first draft of its "code of ethics" for robots.
在美國和西方世界其它國家，對機器人的狂熱被懷疑論沖淡了。數十年來，西方似乎有一股強大的趨勢，將機器人視為某種邪惡的東西，像科技的暴走族橫衝直撞。一項由義大利機器人專家維祿吉歐領導的國際團隊，發表了第一份「機器人的倫理規範」草案。

In the book "How to Survive a Robot Uprising" by Daniel H. Wilson, paranoia over robots is lampooned. Wilson believes Americans eventually will accept robots in their daily lives, but they are likely to be single-function devices that cook or clean or organize, not friendly-faced humanoids that serve as all-purpose valets.
《如何在機器人暴動中求生》一書中，威爾森嘲諷對於機器人的偏執狂。威爾森相信，美國人終究將把機器人納入他們的日常生活，但機器人可能是單一功能的設計─煮飯或清理，甚或組織，而不是全方位、親切的人型侍從。