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(Warning: This article contains mild spoilers about stories in I, Robot)

Isaac Asimov started writing robot stories because he loved to write and his popular robot-themed stories sold well, which ensured that he could earn a living as a full-time author. At first, Asimov did not spell out laws for his robots to follow; so, where did the laws come from? They did not come from experts in the field of Artificial Intelligence. They were not painstakingly laid out by scientists, argued about, defended in debates or tested in experiments. Instead, they were formulated during a conversation between Isaac and his publisher, John W. Campbell – two highly creative and imaginative writers – while discussing ideas for new stories¹.

Asimov first stated the Three Laws of Robotics in “Runaround”, published as a ‘pulp’ story in 1942, later republished in I, Robot². He then built that story and subsequent stories around the robots’ unexpected behaviour. Asimov repeatedly showed that even when the robots followed the laws perfectly, they still behaved in unexpected ways. The Three Laws of Robotics was an excellent plot device, producing fresh and interesting stories that sold well! His readers loved them.

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 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.

As a kind of behavioural “mission statement” the Three Laws are brilliant. Crafted to be superficially appealing and easy to understand, the Laws seem obvious once they are stated. The Laws are short enough to remember, and broad enough to seem universally applicable. But, despite appearances, they are in fact incomplete and ambiguous, allowing the generation of novel situations in which Asimov’s characters, both robots and humans, can interact. The collected short stories published in Isaac’s early book I, Robot helped establish him as a writer, but more than that the book was, and still is, great entertainment. Why? It’s because the storylines do not portray a perfect utopian future.

Within Asimov’s I, Robot collection are tales of robots failing, and failing badly, in all manner of unusual ways. In “Runaround”, a robot SPD-13 gets confused, acts crazy, and endangers the life of two humans. In Reason, robot QT-1 gets religious mania and confines the people who constructed it, against their wishes. These actions would seem to go against the Three Laws, but Asimov finds ways in which they break down. In “Little Lost Robot”, robot NS2-10 hides from its owners, and disobeys direct orders. And robot RD-34 deceives everyone, telling people just what they want to hear in “Liar!” I, Robot has robots that play practical jokes, to the profound discomfort of the poor victims, and robots that secretly run the world – taking the initiative away from the humans who are supposed to be in charge. Asimov, Grand Master of Science Fiction, penned many tales about his robots finding ways around the Three Laws, and his readers were entertained.

But does great entertainment produce good scientific theories? Of course not. When we see positronic robots running about on the movie screen we know they were generated by Hollywood. 20th Century Fox did not purchase a few NS-5s off the shelf to act as extras for the movie; they spent millions of dollars on computer generated images to overlay the scenes shot with real human actors, such as Will Smith. To enjoy the film we, the audience, suspend our disbelief and imagine the fantasy is real.

Is it all fluff then? Is it trivia to be forgotten by tomorrow? Not at all. Great writers can inspire scientists to make science fictional dreams become reality. The scientists and technologists of today are trying to build real robot brains, or Artificial Intelligence (AI). And it is the brain they concentrate on because it is by far the most important, the most complex and difficult part of an AI to get working.

The design of an AI is much more complex than the design of a good plot device. Isaac’s Laws were meant to aid plot development for his science fiction stories, not to be a template for a robotic design, and it shows in their easily identified limitations. Understanding the designs of real brains is difficult work, requiring years of study by highly intelligent people. In contrast, reading the 3 Laws of Robotics is easy – something that many can do with enjoyment.

So, simply kick back and enjoy the imagination of Asimov and the images of Hollywood. In the background, the real work of science is being done, and it does not include the Three Laws of Robotics. Real life is more complicated and risky than life on the silver screen, and requires more powerful ideas. We can do better than three laws deliberately designed to fail. We must do better.

Easy-to-read introductions about robotic brains and AI theories can be found at http://www.singinst.org/intro/

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¹ Asimov, P.S. Warrick, and M.H. Greenberg, eds., Machines That Think, Holt, Rinehart and Wilson, London. 1983.

² Asimov, I, Robot (a collection of short stories originally published between 1940 and 1950), Grafton Books, London, 1968.