Thou Shalt Not Make Robots

I read with interest an article from Wired magazine that the Japanese are more accepting of robots because they don’t suffer from the Judeo-Christian guilt or fear associated with making idols, according to Jean-Claude Heudin, an AI expert from the Institute of Multimedia in Paris. He argues that because the bible explicitly states “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below” (Exodus 20),  we have a guilt complex about creating human-like things. Similarly, the argument runs that only God can create humans and robots represent a violation of that belief. In contrast, traditional Japanese religions are more polytheist so there is no monopoly on creation. It has a whiff of truth about it but I don’t really buy it. What do you think?