The 2011 science fiction movie, “Real Steel,“ takes place in 2020 and features a futuristic world in which robots, rather than humans, compete against one other in the boxing ring. The reason: normal boxing fights are no longer spectacular enough for the spectators. Similar to gladiatorial battles in ancient Rome, spectators thirsted for total destruction in the boxing ring, and since this is not possible in a civilized society between human athletes, sophisticated combat robots were used in the ring.
Read the whole guest article by Prof. Schmidt for the HBS Digital Initiative here