I tend to think this whole "hype marketing" thing has been going on for a very long time; I can't quantify how long. I do know that if you look at various tech

I tend to think this whole "hype marketing" thing has been going on for a very long time; I can't quantify how long. I do know that if you look at various technology marketing around the decade after the release of Capek's RUR (1920) - almost everything that was remotely mechanical or automatic or electronic was referred to as a "robot". So it has been going on at least that long, and I suspect longer.