More properly speaking, LISTSERV is a daemon, not a robot.  A daemon sits
and waits for something to happen, a robot goes out and actively stirs around
(therefore web crawlers are considered robots).  I don't think I would ever
call LISTSERV a robot.  I'm stretching the classical definition of 'daemon'
here but it really fits better as the general class of programs to which
LISTSERV belongs.

Quite frankly the description "mailing list manager" is probably still
the best, although the acronym MLM unfortunately also refers to a
questionable type of get-rich-quick scheme :(

Nathan