Summary of I, Robot
Published in 1950, I, Robot is a collection of nine short stories which portray the interactions between robots and humans during the 21st century. They are linked by a framing narrative consisting of an interview between a young reporter and Dr Susan Calvin, a former robopsychologist.
During her years working at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Susan was able to witness many of the problems arising from human-robot interactions. From machines with unexpected mind-reading abilities to robots who believed in God, she was involved in many ethical problems arising from misinterpretations of the three laws of robotics:
1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2) A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
These three laws created by Isaac Asimov were of extreme importance for the development of science fiction. They set the ground rules for future representations of human-robot interactions and even influenced the creation of real-life robots. In these short stories, Asimov focused on robots being programmed ethically as well as functionally. In this way, he was able to portray them not as cold, practical machines, but as loyal servants of humans.
“Because, if you stop to think of it, the three Rules of Robotics are the essential guiding principles of a good many of the world’s ethical systems.”
Isaac Asimov – I, Robot
Comments
I found this book really interesting and thought-provoking. Before I read it, I had never actually considered what would happen if machines were to become more powerful than humans, or what could be done to prevent it. The Three Rules are simple and basic, yet so hard to come up with! As for the stories themselves, even though the characters are not fully developed, the plot is so gripping it totally makes up for it.
I highly recommend this book, since it will probably change the way you see machines and computers. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! You can find it on Amazon or Book Depository.
Star rating
5 out of 5!
Have you read this book? How many stars would you give it?
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