Three Laws of Robotics

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The Three Laws of Robotics are three rules, written by Isaac Asimov. Isaac Asimov wrote many stories with robots in them. In most of his stories, the robots must obey the laws. The first mention of the laws is in Asimov's short story Runaround (written in 1942).

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.

Later, Asimov added the Zeroth Law: "A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm"; the rest of the laws are modified sequentially to acknowledge this.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first passage in Asimov's short story "Liar!" (1941) that mentions the First Law is the earliest recorded use of the word robotics.^[1] Asimov was not initially aware of this; he assumed the word already existed by analogy with mechanics, hydraulics, and other similar terms denoting branches of applied knowledge.^[2]

The Three Laws form an organizing principle and unifying theme for Asimov's fiction, appearing in his Robot series and the other stories linked to it, as well as his Lucky Starr series of science-oriented young-adult fiction. Other authors working in Asimov's fictional universe have adopted them, and references (often parodic) appear throughout science fiction and in other genres. Technologists in the field of artificial intelligence, working to create real machines with some of the properties of Asimov's robots, have speculated upon the role the Laws may have in the future.

[change] References

1. ↑ The word robot first appeared in a 1921 Karel Čapek play, R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots).
2. ↑ White, Michael (2005). Isaac Asimov: A Life of the Grand Master of Science Fiction. Carroll & Graf, 56. ISBN 0-7867-1518-9. 

[change] Other websites

• Worley, Gordon. "Robot Oppression: Unethicality of the Three Laws".
• "Frequently Asked Questions about Isaac Asimov", AsimovOnline 27 September 2004.
• Ethical Considerations for Humanoid Robots: Why Asimov's Three Laws are not enough.