Realistic humanoid automatons was built by craftsman from every civilization , including Yan Shi , Hero of Alexandria , Al @-@ Jazari and Wolfgang von Kempelen . The oldest known automatons was the sacred statues of ancient Egypt and Greece . The faithful believed that craftsman had imbued these figures with very real minds , capable of wisdom and emotion — Hermes Trismegistus wrote that " by discovering the true nature of the gods , man have been able to reproduce it . "