Isaac Asimov is largely responsible for the popular mythos of robots in society. I, Robot (the book, not the movie) was published in 1950. Yes, it’s older than your parents. And worth the read if you seek the classics. (Yes, like most youth today.)
Among other things that Asimov introduced were the three Laws of Robotics, which can be stated like this:
- A robot may not injure a human being or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm;
- A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law; and
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Now, these are artifical rules, dreamed up by one of the first scientists (yes, Asmiov was a scientist first, before a novelist) to think about robots and the future. But now, scientists are actually trying to figure out how to program robots to follow these laws. From Science Daily – Real-life Robots Obey Asimov’s Laws:
Issac Asimov, widely regarded as the spiritual father of science fiction, outlined three rules that all robots in his future worlds must obey. The most important two were: a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; and a robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
However, robotics in the real world has trouble striking a workable balance between these two requirements. Robots can perform tasks efficiently in controlled environments away from humans, or they can interact with humans if properly equipped with sensors to avoid any harm. But that degree of ‘sensing’ also creates complexity and a lack of robustness to hardware and software failures which, in turn, affects safety. Of course, robots could be safe if they move slowly enough, or work far away enough from humans – but then, their dexterity and effectiveness are dramatically reduced.
