I, Robot and Today's Androids

I, Robot and Today's Androids

In Isaac Asimov's I, Robot, Susan Calvin said, "There was a time when humanity faced the universe alone and without a friend. Now, he has creatures to help him; stronger creatures than himself, more faithful, more useful and absolutely devoted to him," (Asimov 17). Humanity today is certainly alone in the universe; the only robots that even come close to attaining human-like traits are still in the prototype stages. However, although there is a great difference between the intriguing vision of the future Asimov presents and robotics today, there is a startling similarity.

Like most writers, Asimov's early childhood, adolescence and early adulthood influenced his writing immensely. Born to Judah and Anna Asimov, two Jews living in the Soviet Union, Asimov celebrated his birthday as 2 January 1920, but the record keeping of the soviets was notoriously awful, and his actual birth date is unknown (Goldman 16). When Asimov turned three, his family immigrated to Brooklyn, New York (Goldman 16). Judah Asimov owned and operated a candy store to support his family, and the young Isaac spent much of his time helping his father (Goldman 16). The newsstand in the store almost always carried the latest science fiction pulp magazines, and Asimov read them and grew to love science fiction (Goldman 16). Judah, however, felt that all pulp fiction, and not just the science fiction variety, was unhealthy for his child's mind, and forbade Isaac from reading them (Goldman 16). Eventually, though, Isaac was able to persuade his father that the magazines did have worth, and Judah relented (Goldman 16). Asimov, like most budding writers, loved to read, but he enjoyed other topics besides science fiction (Goldman 16). In fact, Asimov would read almost anything at all, from government to history to pure science (Goldman 16). It has been said that Asimov's wide range of interest has helped him to avoid any narrow mindedness that comes about as a result of reading one discipline too extensively (Goldman 16). Although Asimov read a myriad of works, he did not always enjoy them (Scholes and Rabkin 40). Asimov read a few of John W. Campbell's more thoughtful and moving stories published under the pseudonym, Don Stuart, but he disliked them. Asimov later said of his initial dislike:

The fault was mine. I have reread some of them since, and I am ashamed of myself

for having remained at the lower level. I had found them too quiet, too downbeat, too moving. I wanted action and adventure and was simply incapable of following Campbell up to the Stuart level. I eventually did, but it took a few years. I was not as good a man as Campbell was (Scholes and Rabkin 40).

Asimov met the object of first his dislike, and later intense admiration, John Campbell, on 21 June 1938 (Goldman 16). Despite their differing ideas of what constituted well-written science fiction, the two men quickly became friends (Goldman 16). Campbell eventually became Asimov's editor; this partnership has become one of the most productive ever in science fiction history (Goldman 17). Campbell's influence on the younger Asimov is unparalleled by any one source; after surpassing his teenage limitations, Asimov became exactly the kind of writer Campbell loved. Instead of writing action sequence after juvenile action sequence populated by one-sided, immature characters, as was the current science fiction trend, Asimov wrote deeper stories, delving into the realm of morals, ideals and conscience (Goldman 17). James Gunn, another science fiction writer and a friend of Asimov's, labeled him as "the quintessential Campbell writer" in an interview (Goldman 17). Asimov, though, enjoyed and agreed with Gunn's description, disdainful of other authors' writing styles (Goldman 17). As a young adult, Asimov was involved with the Futurians, an early science fiction writing club (Goldman 16). These early enthusiasts did not seem to care for Asimov very much. Damon Knight, a Futurian who chronicled the stories of the other members and an excellent author in his own right, claimed that "The Futurians were apparently not much impressed by Asimov at this time... he seemed to have absorbed a lot of information without thinking much about it," (Goldman 17). However, any reader of Asimov's work, especially I, Robot, can plainly see that Asimov is a great thinker, as well as a great writer.

I, Robot is an extremely interesting collection of nine short stories that center around the world of robotics in what was the future for Asimov: about 2000-2030 A.D. (Asimov 4). The novel's epigraph is a short series of three laws entitled "The Three Laws of Robotics"; these laws provide the basis for the novel's puzzles and dilemmas. The first law states, "A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." (Asimov). It is followed by, "A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law." (Asimov). And finally, "A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws." (Asimov). With these rules, which, in I, Robot, are imprinted upon each and every robot created, the roboticists believe that they have set up an ironclad system that cannot be broken. However, the system malfunctions several times over the course of the short stories (Asimov 89, 110). Because I, Robot is made up almost entirely of separate, self-contained short stories, it has no main character or characters; however, there are a few recurring ones (Asimov 16). The first is a robopsychologist, that is, a person that attempts to understand how and why a robot does what it does. She is named Susan Calvin, and is present in each of the nine short stories in some way (Asimov 16). Two other recurring characters are Gregory Powell and Michael Donovan, two scientists that work for the same company as Calvin, the United States Robots and Mechanical Men Corporation (Asimov 78). Powell and Donovan are routinely called in to troubleshoot broken or malfunctioning robots (Asimov 78). While they are certainly the comic relief of the novel, shown by their constant bickering and getting into difficult situations, they are also extremely good at what they do (Asimov 152). Their immediate superior, the director of United States Robots and Mechanical Men, Peter Bogert, even goes so far as to say that they are his "top field men" (Asimov 152). Each story is separated by an italicized interlude. These interludes are conversations between the aging Doctor Calvin and an unnamed reporter, who is also the narrator for the duration of the interlude.