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"the [science fiction] writer should be able to convince the reader (and himself) that the wonders he is describing really can come true...and that gets tricky when you take a good, hard look at the world around you."
- Frederik Pohl

Bot  
  The first use of this contraction for "robot".  

As far as I know, this is the first use in science fiction for this very common contraction.

You see, sir, i was killed a lot deader than you were, my whole body was destroyed, when they got my ship the only part of me that the ’bots were able to get into cold-sleep was my head, shoulders and a part of my spine...
Technovelgy from We All Died At Breakaway Station, by Richard Meredith.
Published by Amazing Stories in 1969
Additional resources -

Compare to the first use of the word robot from R.U.R. (1920) by Karel Capek.

Hard to believe, but this familiar contraction was so new that in 1977, Gregory Benford felt he needed to explain it in his story Homemaker:

‘What's your name, little bot?’

The robot squats mutely.

Bot?’ Gerald asks. ‘

Slang for robot. You ask him.’

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from We All Died At Breakaway Station
  More Ideas and Technology by Richard Meredith
  Tech news articles related to We All Died At Breakaway Station
  Tech news articles related to works by Richard Meredith

Bot-related news articles:
  - The Future Of Elon Musk's Neuralink

Articles related to Robotics
Micro-Robots Are Smallest, Fully Functional
DIY Robotic Hand Made After Loss Of Fingers
Robot Snakes No Longer Stopped By Stairs
Challenges Of Two-Armed Robots

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