Writings

Featured in USC Blog - Mice, Mentors, and Robots: How USC students were inspired to love the subject they study

Javin Liu, Canada, M.S. in Computer Science at the Viterbi School of Engineering:

My love for computer science did not start with a burning desire to change the world or help others. Instead, it began with a television show I had loved since I was a little boy called “Astro Boy.” 

In the show, a selfish mad scientist built a robot to try to replace his dead son. The robot could show emotion and reason and think like humans.

However, the mad scientist realized the robot couldn’t replace his son. Astro Boy was limited by his robot body and could not grow like the scientist’s deceased child.

Astro Boy’s existence reminded the scientist constantly that his son was gone, so he abandoned Astro Boy.  Another scientist, Dr. Hiroshi, discovered Astro Boy and became a father figure to him.

He took care of him and helped him discover his purpose in life. Astro Boy then began fighting crime and helping the world become a better place.

Originating back to the 1950s, it is one of the first shows to depict robots in a good light… that’s why I love it. It also brings up many questions that researchers still discuss today.

I think technology can be good, but we need to be extra careful to guide it toward a good path, just like Dr. Hiroshi did with Astro Boy.

Also, I have loved typing since I was little, so why not combine being a scientist and typing… computer science!