kenjisan

Book: I, Robot

Yet another book/movie that I've read/watched recently that focuses on the seemingly inevitable conflict between "intelligence" and "artificial intelligence." We've got the Matrix movies and their depiction of machine as enslaver. We've got Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos and his Creator/Created dilemna. The Terminator movies give us an idea of machines who seem to conquer for no other purpose other than to conquer. Even as recently as a year ago, when I read over a synopsis of Halo's predecessor, Marathon, theories of AI and his relationship with man came up.

Asimov, of course, sees the relationship differently. Because his robots are created with 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 the 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 and Second Law.

the robots therefore cannot fight against the humans. Furthermore, they can't even wish to fight the humans. Servitude has been built into their very brains, and thus I, Robot is a book about how these three laws can yield to some very peculiar problems. Plots are driven not by action, but instead by psychological analysis, reading more like a puzzle or mystery novel than an adventure book. Conflict and problem can only emerge from the human factor in this equation, and so Asimov uses his book of short vignettes to illustrate humanities flaws. The robots are the ideal, but we are too blind to accept that.

Asimov's writing style is simple and accessible. A child could read it. The complexity enters at the conceptual level. As I mentioned above, it's more of a collection of short stories, each involving a different instance in the history of robotics, spanning the 80 years of Dr. Susan Calvin, the most prominent robopsychologist who ever lived.

Which, at last, brings me to Will Smith's latest action blockbuster, I, Robot. Don't worry, I'm not going to get all preachy about book over movie. Based on the trailers and the web site, the movie seems to have very little to do with the book. I think it's particularly funny that Bridget Moynahan is Dr. Susan Calvin. She's supposed to be old, severe, and not the most attractive of women. Bridget is none of these things. Anyway, for those of you who like to read a book before seeing the movie, I don't think you have much to worry about with this one.