How Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics Impacts AI

The Three Laws of Robotics are iconic in the science fiction world, and have become a symbol within the AI and robotics community of how difficult it is to properly design a system that is foolproof.

To fully comprehend the importance of these three laws, we must first learn about the brilliant mind who conceived of these laws the late science fiction author Isaac Asimov. We must then understand how to adapt these laws and have them evolve to protect humanity.

Isaac Asimov – The Rise of a Genius

Isaac Asimov was born in Russia on January 2, 1920, and immigrated to the United States at age three. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Columbia University in 1939.  He was recognized as a gifted and prolific writer that focused on science and science fiction. During his career he wrote and/or edited over 500 books.

Asimov was greatly inspired by some of the most iconic writers in the science fiction world.  He began his employment at the Philadelphia Navy Yard where he met two of his co-workers, who would soon emerge as two if the most successful science fiction writers in speculative fiction history: L. Sprague de Camp and Robert A. Heinlein.

L. Sprague de Camp is an award winning author who wrote over 100 books and was a major figure in science fiction in the 1930s and 1940s. Some of his most popular works included “Darkness Fall” (1939), “The Wheels of If” (1940), “A Gun for Dinosaur” (1956), “Aristotle and the Gun” (1958), and “The Glory That Was” (1960).

Robert A. Heinlein was quite possibly the most popular science fiction writer in the world during the height of his career. Along with Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke he was  considered the “Big Three” of science fiction authors. Some of Robert A. Heinlein’s most popular works included “Farnham’s Freehold” (1964) and “To Sail Beyond the Sunset” (1987). The current generation probably knows him best for the movie adaptation of his novel “Starship Troopers” (1959).

Being surrounded by these giants of futurism inspired Issac Asimov to launch his prolific writing career. Asimov was also highly respected in the science community and was frequently booked as a public speaker to give talks about science.

The Three Laws of Robotics

Issac Asimov was the first person to use term ‘Robotics’ in a short story called ‘Liar!’ which was published in 1941.

Shortly after, his 1942 short story “Runaround” introduced the world to his three laws of robotics. The laws are:

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 or Second Laws.

These laws were designed to offer interesting plot points, and Asimov went on to create a series of 37 science fiction short stories and six novels that featured positronic robots.

One of these short story collections titled “I, Robot” was later adapted for film in 2004. The “I,Robot” movie starring Will Smith is set in a dystopian 2035, and features highly intelligent public servant robots that operate under the three laws of robotics. The movie much like the stories quickly became a parable of how programming could go wrong, and that programming any type of advanced AI involves a high level of risk.

The world has now caught up to what was previously science fiction, we are now designing AI that is in some ways far more advanced than anything Issac Asimov could have imagined, while at the same time being far more limited.

The three laws of Robotics are referenced quite frequently in discussions of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). We will quickly explore what AGI is, as well as how the three laws of Robotics must evolve in order to avoid potential issues in the future.

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

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