I have always been a huge fan of Isaac Asimov .  I believe that history will record his contributions to technology in the same manner as Johannes Gutenberg , Issac Newton , and Thomas Edison .  Asimov wrote so many wonderful science fiction novels that it is a shame to suggest that his efforts as an author might not be his greatest legacy.  He inspired many generations of authors who came after him to independent greatness and to derivative works that continued his amazing forays into the morality of technology — the ethics of computers and robots.  I sincerely expect that his Laws of Robotics will be credited with being the yardstick to which every artificial intelligence effort of the next 100 years gets measured.  They will be his most enduring contribution.Isaac Asimov

For those of you not familiar with his work, here are his original 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 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.

Asimov conceived of the three laws as a plot device for a series of short stories about robots and their interactions with humanity.  He was fascinated not with tech for tech’s sake, but with the ways in which it reflected most on our morality and ethics.  Of note, nearly every story that Asimov ever published ended up being part of a single rich tapestry of storytelling with these three laws at the nexus.  A truly masterpiece of a life based upon just a few sentences.  Though, I don’t intend to spoil his work for you if you have not sampled it, as he aged he saw the need to expand these laws both to a zeroth level and beyond, but he always found his way back to this core set.

Today, we stand on the cusp of am age of artificial intelligence.  The ability for machines to learn and grow.  Just as children must not only learn their ABC’s, but the golden rule, some basis for ethical decision making will be required for the infancy of artificial intelligence.  I truly believe that Asimov’s rules will be that template.

I think that reality frequently follows art that predicts it.  Much of our technology today was first envisioned in science fiction of yesterday.  What stories do you know of that inspired inventions today?  Do you think that authors who conceive deserve as much credit or more credit as inventors who achieve? Do you think that Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics will be considered relevant tomorrow?

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for April 27, 2009 ©Scott Coughlin .


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