Laws For Robots
Humans are governed by law, what about robots?
I discovered the Apple TV show “Foundation” during its first season. I watched the first couple of episodes, and I was quickly captivated by the idea of psychohistory and the ability to predict the future of a large group of people. That led me to look more into the author that thought of this brilliant idea, so far ahead of its time.
After a quick Google search, I found not only the information related to the show but also the original author of the book upon which the show is based. Isaac Asimov, a name that was so familiar to me. He wrote the book that introduced the laws for robots; like God giving Moses the ten commandments, these laws are held in the same reverence for the robots in his book.
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
These laws are so elegant because they capture a broad set of scenarios with a limited amount of words. Unlike human laws, where each word is carefully crafted and yet it still leaves room for interpretation, thus leading to laws on how to interpret the laws and becoming the never-ending ouroboros.
To be honest, I have never read any of Asimov’s books, but in spite of that, his writing is somehow still very interesting to me. Perhaps it even influenced my choice of college major? I honestly don’t know which one I discovered first, my passion for computer science or Asimov’s Laws for Robots?