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Origins of robotics

Robotics, a branch of engineering, is also a popular source of inspiration in science fiction literature; indeed, the term originated in that field. Many authors have written about robot behaviour and their interaction with humans, but in this company Isaac Asimov stands supreme. He entered the field early, and from 1940 to 1990 he dominated it. Most subsequent science fiction literature expressly or implicitly recognizes his Laws of Robotics.

Asimov described how, at the age of 20 he came to write robot stories:

“In the 1920’s science fiction was becoming a popular art form for the first time ….. and one of the stock plots …. was that of the invention of a robot …. Under the influence of the well-known deeds and ultimate fate of Frankenstein and Rossum, there seemed only one change to be rung on this plot - robots were created and destroyed their creator … I quickly grew tired of this dull hundred-times-told tale …. Knowledge has its dangers, yes, but is the response to be a retreat from knowledge? …. I began in 1940, to write robot stories of my own - but robot stories of a new variety …… My robots were machines designed by engineers, not pseudo-men created by blasphemers”¹,²

Asimov was not the first to conceive of well-engineered, non-threatening robots, but he pursued the theme with such enormous imagination and persistence that most of the ideas that have emerged in this branch of science fiction are identifiable with his stories.

To cope with the potential for robots to harm people, Asimov, in 1940, in conjunction with science fiction author and editor John W. Campbell, formulated the Laws of Robotics.³,⁴ He subjected all of his fictional robots to these laws by having them incorporated within the architecture of their (fictional) “platinum-iridium positronic brains”. The laws (see below) first appeared publicly in his fourth robot short story, “Runaround”⁵.

The 1940 Laws of Robotics

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

Second Law: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

The laws quickly attracted – and have since retained – the attention of readers and other science fiction writers. Only two years later, another established writer, Lester Del Rey, referred to “the mandatory form that would force built-in unquestioning obedience from the robot”.⁶

As Asimov later wrote (with his characteristic clarity and lack of modesty), “Many writers of robot stories, without actually quoting the three laws, take them for granted, and expect the readers to do the same”.

Asimov’s fiction even influenced the origins of robotic engineering. “Engelberger, who built the first industrial robot, called Unimate, in 1958, attributes his long-standing fascination with robots to his reading of [Asimov’s] ‘I, Robot’ when he was a teenager”, and Engelberger later invited Asimov to write the foreword to his robotics manual.

The laws are simple and straightforward, and they embrace “the essential guiding principles of a good many of the world’s ethical systems.”⁷ They also appear to ensure the continued dominion of humans over robots, and to preclude the use of robots for evil purposes. In practice, however – meaning in Asimov’s numerous and highly imaginative stories – a variety of difficulties arise.

My purpose here is to determine whether or not Asimov’s fiction vindicates the laws he expounded. Does he successfully demonstrate that robotic technology can be applied in a responsible manner to potentially powerful, semi-autonomous and, in some sense intelligent machines? To reach a conclusion, we must examine many issues emerging from Asimov’s fiction.

History

The robot notion derives from two strands of thought, humanoids and automata. The notion of a humanoid (or human- like nonhuman) dates back to Pandora in The Iliad, 2,500 years ago and even further. Egyptian, Babylonian, and ultimately Sumerian legends fully 5,000 years old reflect the widespread image of the creation, with god- men breathing life into clay models. One variation on the theme is the idea of the golem, associated with the Prague ghetto of the sixteenth century. This clay model, when breathed into life, became a useful but destructive ally.

The golem was an important precursor to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus (1818). This story combined the notion of the humanoid with the dangers of science (as suggested by the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods to give it to mortals). In addition to establishing a literary tradition and the genre of horror stories, Frankenstein also imbued humanoids with an aura of ill fate.

Automata, the second strand of thought, are literally “self- moving things” and have long interested mankind. Early models depended on levers and wheels, or on hydraulics. Clockwork technology enabled significant advances after the thirteenth century, and later steam and electro- mechanics were also applied. The primary purpose of automata was entertainment rather than employment as useful artifacts. Although many patterns were used, the human form always excited the greatest fascination. During the twentieth century, several new technologies moved automata into the utilitarian realm. Geduld and Gottesman⁸ and Frude² review the chronology of clay model, water clock, golem, homunculus, android, and cyborg that culminated in the contemporary concept of the robot.

The term robot derives from the Czech word robota, meaning forced work or compulsory service, or robotnik, meaning serf. It was first used by the Czech playwright Karel Çapek in 1918 in a short story and again in his 1921 play R. U. R., which stood for Rossum’s Universal Robots. Rossum, a fictional Englishman, used biological methods to invent and mass- produce “men” to serve humans. Eventually they rebelled, became the dominant race, and wiped out humanity. The play was soon well known in English- speaking countries.

Continue reading Roger Clarke’s Asimov’s Laws of Robotics

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¹ I. Asimov, The Rest of the Robots (a collection of short stories originally published between 1941 and 1957), Grafton Books, London, 1968.

² N. Frude, The Robot Heritage, Century Publishing. London. 1984.

³ I. Asimov, I, Robot (a collection of short stories originally published between 1940 and 1950), Grafton Books, London, 1968.

⁴ I. Asimov, P.S. Warrick, and M.H. Greenberg, eds., Machines That Think, Holt, Rinehart. and Wilson, London. 1983.

⁵ I. Asimov, “Runaround” (originally published in 1942), reprinted in Reference 3, pp. 33- 51.

⁶ L. Del Rey, “Though Dreamers Die” (originally published in 1944). reprinted in Reference 4, pp. 153- 174.

⁷ I. Asimov, “Evidence” (originally published in 1946). reprinted in Reference 3. pp. 159- 182.

⁸ H.M. Geduld and R. Gottesman. eds.. Robots, Robots, Robots, New York Graphic Soc., Boston. 1978.