I, Robot - Isaac Asimov

'I Robot' is a collection of short stories written in the 40’s and 50’s, originally as stand alone short stories in Science Fiction magazines but here they are published as a collection. In these stories the nature and principles of robots are examined in detail probably for the first time.

It is interesting how Asimov viewed a future society incorporating robots. In this future Robots are built to look like humans, whereas in our ...
...rarely resemble humans. Asimov argued that since robots were to take over manual work from humans and that most machine designed to help with manual work were designed for use by humans then the robots would be built to be human like, to drive cars, cook the meal, vacuum the house etc. Maybe this type of robot is still to come.

The brilliance of the stories is not in their predictive accuracy of the future, Arthur C Clarke was far ... more

'I Robot' is a collection of short stories written in the 40’s and 50’s, originally as stand alone short stories in Science Fiction magazines but here they are published as a collection. In these stories the nature and principles of robots are examined in detail probably for the first time.

It is interesting how Asimov viewed a future society incorporating robots. In this future Robots are built to look like humans, whereas in our own world robots are machines adapted for specific tasks and rarely resemble humans. Asimov argued that since robots were to take over manual work from humans and that most machine designed to help with manual work were designed for use by humans then the robots would be built to be human like, to drive cars, cook the meal, vacuum the house etc. Maybe this type of robot is still to come.

The brilliance of the stories is not in their predictive accuracy of the future, Arthur C Clarke was far better at that, but in the interesting paradoxes that Asimov included in his stories. In most of the 'pulp' Science Fiction that preceded or was contemporary to Asimov the idea of robots dealt essentially with two extremes. One was a vision that had not moved further than the 'Frankenstein' concept where humans trying to be like gods create a machine in their own image and inevitably realise they have crated a 'monster'. The other was a Utopian view where robots had become the perfect tools for humans and provided human society with an inexhaustible supply of cheap reliable labour. Few authors before Asimov tried to deal with the complexities that this Utopian view entailed. How would robots move beyond the laboratory into everyday life? How would people view robots? Would they be a useful technology to make life better or a threat to jobs and our way of life? How would conscious robots view themselves and their role in society?

Robots eventually would become better at many tasks than their human masters and be physically stronger. Out of necessity they would need to be able to have some consciousness or free will and thus they could pose a grave danger to human society maybe realising the old 'Frankenstein' scenario. Some safeguards would have to be built in to the very essence of the robots thinking that would ensure that they would always be under the control of humans and pose no threat. Asimov proposed that the most logical way to do this was to integrate in to their mechanical brains (The Positronic Brain) a set of algorithms, representing unbreakable ‘laws’ that would limit their actions and thoughts. Any failure to obey these laws would result in an irreversible 'shut down' of the brain.

The laws known as the Three Laws of Robotics are as follows:

LAW1 A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

LAW2 A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law.

LAW3 A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.

On the face of it these are sufficient to ensure the dominance of humans over the machines but it is a premise that Asimov goes on to question throughout all the short stories in this collection.

THE STORIES

The stories can be read on their own although in this collection a background thread is added.

Sometime in the near future a journalist interviews one of the head scientists (robopsychologist) of US Robotics and Mechanical Men Inc. the largest and most powerful manufacturer of robots in the world. Susan Calvin in her role as a robopsychologist watched the development of robot throughout her long career. Now 75 years of age she is about to retire and in the interview she gives the journalist an overview of robot development by relating a number of tales (the stories) that describe the problems and issues that the existence of robots have highlighted.

The stories are as follows

Robbie
Runaround
Reason
Catch That Rabbit
Liar!
Little Lost Robot
Escape!
Evidence
The Evitable Conflict

In the course of reading these stories we are presented with many scenarios that all seem to contradict the Laws of Robotics thus represent a problem or even a danger for the scientists. The stories are varied and follow to some extent a chronological order in development of robotics. Some of the stories are amusing other are more like mysteries and some deal with more intriguing and serious issues.

In the first story Robbie is one of the first robots to be built and its function is to be a companion or 'nanny' to a young girl. Robbie is a very basic design he can’t talk but loves to hear the stories the little girls tells him and apparently displays basic emotions. If this reminds you of films such as The Bicentennial Man (written by Asimov) or A I it’s because the basic principles of the stories are the same and Asimov created them.

In other stories we find out about a robot that is told to get lost by an angry human and of course obeying Law 2 does just that. We also come across mind reading robots, mad robots and a secret society of robots that control the world.

In each story Asimov manages to find another situation where the seemingly watertight laws of robotics can go wrong. He traces the natural progression for the development of robots in the future. He touches on the developing relationship between humans and robots and also a developing fear and antipathy which could result in a complete rejection of the technology.

As with all Asimov stories the writing style is clear and succinct. It would be fair to say that there is no in depth characterisation, even for the short story medium. The stories are plot driven but the ideas behind the narrative are just as important and it is Asimov's skill as a populist science writer the concept sometimes complicated in nature are easily accessible and totally fascination.

Asimov is now a legend in science fiction and many of the ideas relating to robots that he championed are now accepted widely in the scientific and science fiction community as being a logical ethical basis for any advanced form of artificial intelligence. Asimov's influence in science fiction can be seen everywhere from Star Trek and Sat Wars to Dr Who. Even though 'I Robot' was written over 50 years ago the stories remain fresh and at a time of increasing technological innovation (and the resulting paranoia) the themes within them remain relevant to modern readers.

Asimov went on to write many more stories related to robots and another collection 'The Rest Of The Robots' is available. He also went on to develop the themes of Human relationship to robots in his futuristic detective novels 'The Caves of Steel' and 'The Naked Sun'.

'I Robot' can be bought in paperback -249 pages Collins; ISBN: 0586025324-(still the 1970's edition I have!) from Amazon.co.uk for £4.79 (+p&p)

Thanks for reading and rating this opinion.

© Mauri 2003

 

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