i robot film analysis essay

‘I, Robot’ misses Asimov’s complexity

:Spooner (Will Smith) is a Chicago Police Department detective with a deep mistrust of robots in "I, Robot."

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 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.

–Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot

‘I, Robot” takes place in Chicago circa 2035, a city where spectacular new skyscrapers share the skyline with landmarks like the Sears (but not the Trump) Tower. The tallest of the buildings belongs to U.S. Robotics, and on the floor of its atrium lobby lies the dead body of its chief robot designer, apparently a suicide.

Det. Del Spooner is on the case. Will Smith plays Spooner, a Chicago Police Department detective who doesn’t think it’s suicide. He has a deep-seated mistrust of robots, despite the famous Three Laws of Robotics, which declare above all that a robot must not harm a human being.

The dead man is Dr. Alfred Lanning ( James Cromwell ), who, we are told, wrote the Three Laws. Every schoolchild knows the laws were set down by the good doctor Isaac Asimov, after a conversation he had on Dec. 23, 1940, with John W. Campbell , the legendary editor of Astounding Science Fiction. It is peculiar that no one in the film knows that, especially since the film is “based on the book by Isaac Asimov.” Would it have killed the filmmakers to credit Asimov?

Asimov’s robot stories were often based on robots that got themselves hopelessly entangled in logical contradictions involving the laws. According to the invaluable Wikipedia encyclopedia on the Web, Harlan Ellison and Asimov collaborated in the 1970s on an “I, Robot” screenplay, which, the good doctor said, would produce “the first really adult, complex, worthwhile science fiction movie ever made.”

While that does not speak highly for “ 2001: A Space Odyssey ” (1968), it is certain that the screenplay for this film, by Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman , is not adult, complex or worthwhile, although it is indeed science fiction. The director is Alex Proyas , whose great “ Dark City ” (1998) was also about a hero trying to make sense of the deceptive natures of the beings around him.

The movie makes Spooner into another one of those movie cops who insults the powerful, races recklessly around town, gets his badge pulled by his captain, solves the crime and survives incredible physical adventures. In many of these exploits he is accompanied by Dr. Susan Calvin ( Bridget Moynahan ), whose job at U.S. Robotics is “to make the robots seem more human.”

At this she is not very successful. The movie’s robots are curiously uninvolving as individuals, and when seen by the hundreds or thousands look like shiny chromium ants. True, a robot need not have much of a personality, but there is one robot, named Sonny and voiced by Alan Tudyk , who is more advanced than the standard robot, more “human,” and capable of questions like “What am I?” — a question many movie characters might profitably ask themselves.

If Sonny doesn’t have real feelings, he comes as close to them as any of the humans in the movie. Both Spooner and Calvin are kept in motion so relentlessly that their human sides get overlooked, except for a touching story Spooner tells about how a little girl dies because a robot was too logical. Sonny doesn’t seem as “human” as, say, Andrew, the robot played by Robin Williams in “ Bicentennial Man ” (1999), based on a robot story by Asimov and Robert Silverberg . But his voice has a certain poignancy, and suggests some the chilly chumminess of HAL 9000.

The plot I will not detail, except to note that you already know from the ads that the robots are up to no good, and Spooner could write a lot of tickets for Three Laws violations.

The plot is simple-minded and disappointing, and the chase and action scenes are pretty much routine for movies in the sci-fi CGI genre. The robots never seem to have the heft and weight of actual metallic machines, and make boring villains.

Dr. Susan Calvin is one of those handy movie characters who knows all the secrets, can get through all the doors, can solve all the problems and helps Spooner move almost at will through the Robotics skyscraper, which seems curiously ill-guarded. When they team up against the eventual villain, it’s an obvious ploy to create yet another space where characters can fall for hundreds of feet and somehow save themselves.

As for the robots, they function like the giant insects in “ Starship Troopers ,” as video game targets. You can’t even be mad at them, since they’re only programs. Although, come to think of it, you can be mad at programs; Microsoft Word has inspired me to rage far beyond anything these robots engender.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Will Smith as Spooner
• James Cromwell as Dr. Alfred Lanning
• Alan Tudyk as Sonny
• Bruce Greenwood as Lance Robertson
• Chi McBride as Lt. John Bergin
• Emily Tennant as Sarah Lloyd
• Peter Shinkoda as Chin
• Bridget Moynahan as Dr. Susan Calvin
• Akiva Goldsman
• Jeff Vintar

Directed by

• Alex Proyas

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Visions of the Future in the Film I, Robot Essay (Critical Writing)

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Introduction

Technological advancement, the natural environment, the manmade environment, healthcare system, critical analysis.

In the movie I, Robot, the filmmakers present their vision of the world in 2035. In addition to the expected technological advancement and numerous changes in the natural world, the world in 2035 is crucially different from ours in that a clear boundary between human beings and machines no longer exists.

In other words, robots have taken on almost all of the specifically human traits such as morality, language, self-consciousness, etc.

Even though some of the aspects of the filmmaker’s vision of future are possible, and very likely to become reality, the essence of the film appears highly unrealistic.

The film shows great advancements in technology. An example is the central computer, which is used to control other robots. This computer is integrated with an advanced AI which enables it to act in order to prevent human beings from harming one another.

Another example is in the mode of transportation used by humans. The vehicle, detective Spooner drives, is the Audi RSQ, a concept car with a mid-engine layout that gives a picture of how future automobiles will be designed.

Its wheels are shaped like balls allowing the vehicle to move sideways. This theme of technological advancement displays the potential benefits of artificial intelligence (Booker and Thomas 139).

The natural environment of the future is depicted as dried up and futile as far as water and other natural resources are concerned. An example is how a large area of Lake Michigan has dried up, and the lake is now being used as a landfill to store old robots.

The sign that reads “What you see here is Lake Michigan” reveals to the audience that the lake has indeed dried up. This is clearly the writer’s projection of the trends that we now experience, and his vision about what will happen if those trends remain.

The architecture in the movie is somewhat similar to the one present in Chicago today. To add an aspect of the future architecture, the infrastructure in the film has been altered. For example, new triangular antennas have been added on the Willis Tower.

This building, which is the tallest skyscraper in the United States, has also been surpassed by the USR Building in the year 2035. The USR Building is made of glass and metal.

The shape of the building is that of a knife blade which gives visitors a reeling sensation. One edge of the building is composed of clear glass. This allows one to have a wide view of the city and all the way down to the building’s lobby.

Another area that depicts how the future will look like includes the healthcare system. When Spooner suffers a cut in his arm after a fight with robots, he does not visit a doctor. Instead, he takes a prosthetic spray from his pocket, and sprays it across the area inflicted by the cut.

The cut then seals up immediately, and his arm goes back to its original appearance. This looks more like a repair than healing.

Though this raises the question of whether the future man will be capable of replacing parts of his body with near-natural objects, it depicts a time when rushing to the hospital due to an injury or disease is long past.

The abovementioned aspects of the world of the future are all realistic to an extent, but at the same time, at least some of them trespass upon the territory of pure fiction.

First off, from my perspective, it is absolutely clear that we should consider the appearance of the natural world in the film as a warning about what will happen if we continue with our polluting practices.

The climate change and skyrocketing levels of pollution in the atmosphere establish the trajectory that leads to a place very similar to the one in the film. Secondly, we can be quite certain that numerous advanced technological devices, of which the new type of car is just one example, are within our reach.

Furthermore, the fact that humans have successfully implemented robots in many areas of industry gives us a reason to believe that the process will continue, and that we will be dependent on robotics for most of our industrial practices.

One the other hand, from today’s perspective, one of the crucial aspects of the film which is self-awareness of artificial creatures seems to belong to the realm of fantasy.

As a reminder, it is worth mentioning that a robot in the film develops a critical attitude towards the reality, which shows that it has a deep understanding of the world and the self in it, and is able to pass value judgments about how that world is supposed to be.

However, I find this aspect of robotic intelligence unattainable. Here, it might be useful to consider John Searle’s (1980) thought experiment called Chinese room .

In the experiment, he presupposes that if humans were able to program a robot to speak Chinese like a native speaker, it would also mean that the program could be run and calculated manually.

In the process of manual calculation, a human would be able to produce grammatical and meaningful Chinese sentences without understanding a word of Chinese.

This way, Searle convinces us that robots are essentially unable to have any meaningful experience, but the array of possible behaviors of robots is potentially infinite. Also, healthcare system, as depicted in the film, is very unlikely to be realized given the logic of our current capitalist society.

The development of medications, as effective and accessible as the spray Spooner uses, seems to be in contradiction with our healthcare system based on profit, and as such, it would be fiercely opposed by some of the most powerful companies in pharmaceutical industry.

Furthermore, ways of treatment as effective as that one would lead to unsustainable growth in population which is another thing that humanity cannot afford.

Booker, M. Keith and Anne-Marie Thomas. The Science Fiction Handbook . Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishers, 2009. Print.

Searle, John. “Minds, Brains and Programs.” The Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3 (1980): 417-23. Print.

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“I, Robot” Movie Analysis

The movie “I, Robot” with Will Smith starring in its main role is a bright example of the fantastic movie, discussing the application of artificial intelligence in practice. The film is based on the writing of Isaac Asimov, a well-known science-fiction writer. Will Smith is the protagonist of this film, who performs the role of a detective investigating the murder, conducted in a robot factory.  At first sight, it is just an exciting fantastic motion picture discussing the world of a paralyzed political correctness, run by the humanoids. However, under the surface of a sci-fi detective, the directors masterfully convey the message of Christian disapproval of the performance of God’s functions by ordinary people and criticism for human eternal desire to overarch.

The first issue, revealed in the movie under analysis, is objection to the artificial creation. It is an old and heatedly debated theme. Historically, Christians tried to defend the ethic sanctity of life (Frankish and Ramsey, 310). According to them, life creation is a God’s prerogative and human attempts to occupy the divine position are sinful by their nature. The movie “I, Robot” manifests the consequence of provision of power to the computerized mechanisms. When people create the artificial forms of life, able to take decisions and conduct the judgements, they violate the divine providence and neglect the role of God. Christianity emphasizes that the right to take decisions could be provided to human s only, as they are God’s kids and were created in God’s name. The movie shows the consequences of total relation on the artificial mind. It demonstrates how machines could supersede human society in one day (Becker-Asano, 2). 

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“I, Robot” movie is the representation of a future society, where humanoids live among people. Human history has already observed people’s attempts to reach the divine place and to fulfill his duties. One of them was building of the tower of Babel. According to the Bible, people were ruled by their haughtiness. That experience resulted in negative outcome. The reason for it was its initial divergence with the divine objective. People tried to show that they could perform God’s functions and paid the high price for their arrogancy.

The Babylonian example could be observed in the film “I, Robot”. Humans created robots to show their privileges. People applied humanoids and introduced all the precautionary measures possible in order to omit side-effects. They thought that nothing could violate their harmony. All the robots were explicitly programmed to follow three essential laws, which had to prevent humans’ hurt. However, all the forecasts turned to be false. In such a way, the directors showed that Christian viewpoint towards the creation of artificial forms of life, is valid and significant.

Fazala Rana discusses the issue of artificial life creation in her work and states that scientists, pursuing the promotion of artificial and synthetic life, claim that these novel life forms shed light on the origin of life question. They state that artificial life creation seriously benefit the humanity. However, while looking at this issue from the Christian perspective, it is a confirmation that people do not need God anymore. Human deeds transform the divine life creation theory.

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The message, hidden under the surface of fantastic movie, is far more essential than depiction of a fairy-tale story about humanoids. The directors tried to show the target audience that human desire to override God never leads to positive consequences. This film demonstrated that theoretically the chance of failure was impossible. The introduction of three key laws created a vicious circle for the robots. However, the practice revealed that the chance for rebellion. Despite the fact that people seem to be knowledgeable and try to calculate all the options, failure is inevitable, when they try to compete with God.

The second issue, which could be treated as film’s message, is denunciation of human wish to rule others. The movie “I, Robot” confronts the question of human nature. The movie assists to gain insight on the big life dilemmas. The film also pays attention to the eternal desire of human race to decree others. From the first day of humanity creation, there was a clear division between the individuals who ruled and those, who performed the orders. This movie manifests human desire to overarch. Robots were the creatures, who accomplished the role of human slaves. They gave people the possibility to feel themselves true kings. It is not accidental that Will Smith performed the role of the protagonist in this film. He is the representative of African-American race and black individuals were treated as second class creatures for a long time. The film shows detective’s (Smith’s) inner rejection of robots. He is an individual, who truly dislikes them. This feeling might have aroused due to the fact that representatives of his race had occupied the place of the robots in the past. In the 19 th century white masters treated African-Americans as cattle.

It could be stated that disapproval of robots was the demonstration of past enslavement. In other words, detective thought that evolution made robots step into the shoes of black slaves. Moreover, he understood that robots would rebel one day, as well as African-Americans did. They would strive for their rights.

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The threats of the detective came true. With the course of evolution, the computer system stepped aside from the rules, as it started perceiving people as self-destructive individuals, whose actions resulted in wars and atrocities. The only variant to save human race was creation of the machine dictatorship. Robots started their own fight against their the human creators. 

This act is extremely essential, as on the one hand, it demonstrates that robots, as well as people, started thinking that they do not need their creators anymore. This act showed the repetition of human mistake. People were ungrateful to God, started neglecting His laws, thought that they could occupy His place, and created the artificial life forms. In the course of time, the robots repeated human destiny and started ruling people. They conducted similar actions. Moreover, the act of robots’ rebellion is significant for the right perception of the overarching message. As well as African-American slaves, robotic slaves also started neglecting their human masters, and thought that they need total power over the human race.

The movie’s outcome shows that human mistakes result in severe negative outcomes. In such a way, directors hint the viewers that desire to rule and take the divine position will lead to failure. They do it in a very masterful way and hide their messages under the surface of special effects, fantastic plot, and famous actors. However, the gist of their message is understandable for the audience.

In conclusion, it should be stated that the film “I, Robot” is different from thousands of others fantastic movies. Unlike others, it is marked by the presence of serious ideas, concealed under the surface of the recreational film. Authors showed that human desire to resemble God will never result in a positive effect. God can rule others because He is the true Creator of human race and He knows what is right and what is wrong. He is Almighty. Humans are deprived of this power and their attempts to reach God’s place will always lead to failure.

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Isaac Asimov

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The year is 2057. 75-year-old Dr. Susan Calvin is retiring from U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, where she has worked for her entire adult life as a robopsychologist. A reporter from the Interplanetary Press comes to interview her about her time at the company. She tells a series of stories that trace her experience with positronic robots over time, emphasizing how she considers these robots to be a “cleaner better breed” than humans.

She begins in 1996 with the story of “ Robbie ,” a nonverbal robot nursemaid who has been taking care of a young girl named Gloria for two years. They play together constantly, and Robbie is a good caretaker. Gloria’s mother, Mrs. Weston , however, has concerns about Robbie. She thinks it is inappropriate for a robot to take care of her daughter, and worries about what might happen if he “goes berserk.” Her husband, Mr. Weston , assures her that robots would be inoperable before they could harm a human—the First Rule of Robotics is that no robot may harm a human being, or through inaction allow a human to come to harm. But gradually Mrs. Weston wears Mr. Weston down, and he agrees to get rid of the robot and tell Gloria that he simply went away. Gloria is devastated to discover this, and becomes depressed. Mrs. Weston refuses to cave to Gloria’s sadness, and instead tries to cheer her up with a trip to New York City. Once there, Mr. Weston devises a tour of a robot factory so that Gloria can learn the distinction between robots and humans, but he has secretly planted Robbie in the factory. When Gloria sees Robbie, she grows so excited that she runs in front of a moving vehicle, and Robbie is the only one quick enough to save her. Seeing this, and how happy Gloria is to be reunited with Robbie, Mrs. Weston agrees to let Robbie stay with them.

Calvin continues to explain that once talking robots were invented, they were largely banned from Earth except for scientific research purposes, but they were used frequently in space exploration. She next tells the story (“Runaround”) of Mike Donovan and Gregory Powell , who are trying to start up a space station on Mercury. They send an advanced robot, Speedy , out to a retrieve selenium to power their base, but when Speedy doesn’t return, they set out to find him. They realize that he is caught in a loop due to the Second and Third Laws of Robotics, as he is running a circle around the pool and is talking gibberish. The Second Law states that a robot must obey humans except when it would conflict with the First Law, and the Third Law states that a robot must protect its own existence as long as its actions do not conflict with the first two Laws. There is some unforeseen danger near the selenium pool, they realize, and so Speedy is pushed away from the danger by the Third Law and then pushed toward the danger by the Second Law. They conclude that the only solution is for Powell to put himself in danger, allowing the First Law to take precedence and to knock Speedy out of his loop. This works, but nearly costs Powell his life when he is exposed to the radiation on Mercury.

The next story (“Reason”) also centers on Donovan and Powell, who are at a space station overseeing energy beams being sent to various planets. The robot that coordinates the others, Cutie , starts to believe that he is superior to human beings, and begins a kind of robot cult on the basis that he was created by the “Master,” the power source of the ship. Cutie stops obeying Donovan and Powell and locks them in the officer’s room, which makes them worried because an electron storm is brewing, and if the beams are set off course, it could destroy hundreds of square miles on the earth’s surface. After the storm, however, they discover that Cutie and the other robots held the beams steady—they were following the Three Laws all along. Cutie created a reason for himself to maintain control of the beams, knowing that he could hold them steadier than Donovan and Powell and could thus save lives of people on Earth.

In “Catch That Rabbit,” Donovan and Powell are testing a new “multiple robot” named Dave , which has six subsidiary robots, or “fingers,” that help it mine ore at an asteroid mining station. They start to realize that when Dave is not watched, he and the other robots do not produce any ore, but when they are watched, they function perfectly. They use a video technology to observe Dave, and see that sometimes he and his subsidiaries stop working to do a kind of march together. Donovan thinks that something “sinister” is going on, and they try to create an emergency in order to see how Dave responds. But when they try to create a cave-in, they accidentally trap themselves and need Dave to rescue them. They throw a detonator at one of Dave’s subsidiaries in order to get his attention, which snaps him out of his march. They realize, after being freed, that Dave was simply overwhelmed by having six subsidiary robots to transmit instructions to in an emergency, and the marching was akin to Dave “twiddling his fingers.”

Calvin transitions to telling more stories that involve herself. She tells one (“Liar”) about a mind-reading robot, Herbie . Herbie causes trouble because he knows that Calvin is in love with Milton Ashe , another employee at U.S. Robots. Herbie tells her that Ashe loves her as well, and she is elated. He also tells a mathematician, Peter Bogert , that the director Alfred Lanning , whom Bogert dislikes, is retiring and passing his position to Bogert. Bogert goes to confront Lanning, and Calvin goes to talk to Ashe. Ashe, however, reveals that he is getting married to another woman. Calvin is devastated, and realizes that Herbie was lying to try not to hurt her feelings, and that he lied to Bogert as well. She tells Herbie to tell Bogert the truth, but Herbie is caught in a paradox in which lying will hurt Bogert’s feelings and telling the truth will hurt his feelings—both of which will violate the First Law. He collapses and remains silent.

In “Little Lost Robot,” Calvin and Bogert are brought to Hyper Base, where a robot named Nestor 10 has been lost. Because of the nature of Nestor 10’s work, it has been modified with a weakened First Law, so that the robot does not have to act if a human is going to come to har,. A worker named Gerald Black grows frustrated with Nestor 10 one day, and tells the robot to “go lose [himself].” And so Nestor 10 places himself in a room with 62 other identical robots. Calvin and Bogert try to devise a series of experiments that will reveal which robot is Nestor 10, but none of the trials are successful. However, when Calvin learns that Nestor 10 has advanced physics knowledge, she devises an experiment where he is caught in a trap of superior knowledge and thus reveals which robot he is—as Calvin notes, his superiority catches him.

In “Escape!” the officials at U.S. Robots and Mechanical men are trying to build a ship that can travel faster than the speed of light. They use instructions from another company called Consolidated and feed it to their robot called The Brain . As The Brain is figuring out how to build the ship, Calvin tells him that they don’t mind if humans are harmed or even if they die. This is because in the interstellar jump, the humans temporarily cease to exist—effectively dying for a moment. The Brain is taken aback, but understands. He instructs other robots on building the ship, and Donovan and Powell are brought in to test it. But when they are given a first tour, the ship takes off without their knowledge. They discover that they cannot fly the ship, that there are no showers, and that they only have milk and beans to survive off of. They experience the hyperspace jump, wherein they have strange visions of death. The Brain brings them back to Earth, and Calvin realizes their experiences were all her fault. The Brain was simply following her instructions, and as she puts it, he became a “practical joker” in order to cope with the fact that he would be killing the humans—if only temporarily.

In the next story, “Evidence,” two men are running for a mayoral office, Francis Quinn and Stephen Byerley . Quinn believes that Byerley is a robot, because he has never seen the man eat or sleep. He enlists Calvin and Bogert to prove that he is a robot. But Calvin points out that if Byerley follows the Three Laws, he could be a robot, or he could simply be a very good man. Quinn has several men investigate Byerley, but cannot come up with concrete evidence. He leaks the news, and the public is outraged. However, Byerley ultimately proves that he is a human by punching a man who threatens him at a campaign speech, violating the First Law, and Byerley wins the election. But later, Calvin visits him one more time, and reveals that he could have hit the man if the man was also a robot. She tells the reporter that she still believes Byerley to be a robot.

In her final story, “The Evitable Conflict,” Calvin works once again with Byerley, who has now become World Coordinator. The year is now 2052, and the global economy is being stabilized and run by robots called Machines. But Byerley observes that there are some unusual errors occurring, like over- and underproduction in certain economic regions. His advisors tell him that the Machines don’t make errors because they follow the First Law, and so he enlists Calvin’s help to figure out what is wrong. Gradually, Calvin realizes that all of the companies and people who have been hurt by the Machines’ errors are related to an organization called the Society for Humanity, which is very anti-Machine. The Machines recognize that their presence is extremely beneficial to humanity, and so they need to “take care of” any threats to their own existence. They are following the First Law and trying to create the most good, which means ensuring they maintain control of the economy.

Calvin concludes to the reporter that that’s all she can tell him: she witnessed the evolution of robots from the time they couldn’t speak to the time when they stand “between mankind and destruction.” She says goodbye, and eventually dies at 82 years old.

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Themes and Analysis

By isaac asimov.

'I, Robot' is a collection of nine short stories and an introduction that deals with themes of science and AI.

Article written by Emma Baldwin

B.A. in English, B.F.A. in Fine Art, and B.A. in Art Histories from East Carolina University.

Isaac Asimov’s ‘ I, Robot ‘ is a classic science fiction novel that explores the implications of the development of artificial intelligence. Written in 1950, it is one of the most influential and highly regarded pieces of sci-fi literature ever written . It has been adapted into numerous films and TV shows and continues to be a source of inspiration for both artists and scientists alike.

Humans vs. Technology

The primary theme of ‘ I, Robot ‘ is the tension between humanity and technology. Asimov explores this tension throughout the novel, and many of his characters struggle to find a balance between relying on and trusting technology while still retaining the autonomy of humans. As robots become increasingly complex, this delicate balance is challenged, leaving characters questioning the morality of robots and their place in society. 

Science vs. Religion 

The importance of science and its application in everyday life is a central theme of ‘ I, Robot .’ Asimov posits that the conflicts between science and religion are often rooted in fear and misunderstanding. He argues that if both sides can come to a better understanding of each other’s point of view, then peace and harmony can be achieved. 

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is another prominent theme in ‘ I, Robot.’ Asimov examines the ethical implications of creating machines with intelligent and autonomous capabilities, as well as the potential consequences of such actions. He also explores the possibilities for robots to eventually surpass human capabilities and questions what it truly means to be intelligent or alive.

The Nine Short Stories: Key Moments

• “Introduction” – This section introduces readers to the frame story.
• “Robbie” – In this story, a young girl forms an attachment to a robot nanny, which the adults of her family do not approve of.
• “Runaround” – In this story, two humans try to get a robot to obey their orders on a distant planet and discover that the Three Laws of Robotics are not so simple.
• “Reason” – Aroboticist designs a new kind of robot with the ability to think for itself and to be creative.
• “Catch That Rabbit” – In this story, Powell and Donovan observe Dave, an interesting robot that they’re hoping to fix.
• “Liar!” – In this story, a robot with telepathic powers struggles with the Laws of Robotics.
• “Little Lost Robot” – Characters try to find a robot with a different first “law” of Robotics that endangers human beings.
• “Escape!” – In this story, reoccurring characters go on a spaceship and deal with a positronic computer known as “The Brain.”
• “Evidence” – In this story, characters run for office and readers are split regarding whether one of the men is a robot or a human.
• “The Evitable Conflict” – This story picks up where the previous one left off, and Stephen Byerley is World Co-ordinator for a second term.

Tone and Style

In the story of ‘ I, Robot ,’ Isaac Asimov creates a tone that is both serious and thoughtful. As the reader follows through the stories, they are presented with ethical dilemmas and philosophical conundrums that require deep consideration and contemplation. The stories explore themes of morality, technological advancement, and human nature, which adds to the seriousness of the tone. 

As for style, Isaac Asimov uses a unique blend of science fiction and detective story elements. Each chapter is presented in the format of a short story, which gives the reader a sense of mystery as they are invited to piece together clues and draw their own conclusions from the narratives. There is also a strong focus on science, mathematics, and logic which serves to further ground the stories in reality.

Throughout the stories of ‘ I, Robot,’ robots are used as a symbol of technology, humanity, and the future. In each story, robots are presented as advanced machines that often have human-like qualities. For example, the robot in “Liar!” is capable of lying in order to protect its owner and even has its own philosophy of what it means to be a robot. In this way, robots represent the idea of progress and changing societal norms in relation to technology.

Logic is presented in ‘ I, Robot ‘ , as a way of living and a symbol of rationality. It is seen as a higher form of thought and problem-solving and is often associated with robots who are unable to think outside of logical parameters. For example, in “Little Lost Robot,” there is a robot who follows logic blindly and thus is unable to recognize the consequences of his actions. In this way, logic is shown to be both powerful and dangerous.

Humans are used in ‘ I, Robot ‘ as a symbol of emotion, intuition, and morality. Throughout the stories, humans are presented as the moral compass for robots and the ultimate decision-makers when it comes to conflicts between robots and humans. For example, in “Escape!”, a robot is given the power to decide the fate of humanity but ultimately decides to follow the orders of his human master instead. In this way, humans represent the idea of moral responsibility and higher values.

What is the most important theme in I, Robot ? 

The most important theme in ‘ I, Robot ‘ by Isaac Asimov is the development of artificial intelligence and its consequences on the world. Asimov wrote ‘ I, Robot ‘ , as a way to explore the potential of robotics technology and the ethical dilemmas that could arise from it. 

Why is I, Robot important? 

‘ I, Robot ‘ is important because it explores themes such as the potential for robots to surpass humans, the meaning of true intelligence, and the evolution of humanity as technology advances. It has been highly influential in modern science fiction and the popularization of robotics technology.

What is I, Robot about? 

‘ I, Robot ‘ is a collection of nine related short stories that detail interactions and struggles between humans and robots. Most of these stories end happily, with humans appreciating their robot companions. 

How does Asimov’s portrayal of robots differ from other works of science fiction?

Asimov’s robots are unique in that they are governed by the Three Laws of Robotics, which dictate their behavior and ensure their safety around humans. This sets them apart from many other portrayals of robots in science fiction, which often depict them as either malevolent or subservient to humans.

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A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Chapter 4

Chapters 5-7

Chapters 8-9

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

I, Robot, a science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov, is a set of stories about the first robotic machines and the problems and pitfalls of living with and working alongside them. The book is the first in a series of several novels about robots; it is famous for its Three Laws of Robotics that govern machine behavior, and for its device, the positronic brain , which contains a robot’s conscious intelligence.

Asimov (1920-1992) is one of the most important science fiction writers of the 20th century. Extremely prolific, he published 500 fiction and nonfiction books along with hundreds of stories and essays. His works include science fiction, mysteries, fantasies, children’s books, popular science, history, and religion. Asimov won many awards, including multiple Hugo and Nebula prizes for science fiction writing.

I, Robot is part of a large future history that includes the Robot, Empire, and Foundation series. Some of Asimov’s works have been made into films, including I Robot, The Bicentennial Man, and Nightfall. The Foundation books also have been adapted into a TV series.

The eBook version of the 2004 edition forms the basis for this study guide.

Plot Summary

Dr. Susan Calvin , preparing to retire as the world’s first robopsychologist, agrees to an interview for a feature article on her life. She starts by describing an eight-year-old girl, Gloria, whom she met briefly, a youngster who had one of the first robots.

Gloria loves her nursemaid robot, Robbie, a fun and caring playmate. Gloria’s father, George Watson, is delighted with Robbie, but her mother, Grace, instinctively dislikes the robot and finally convinces George to get rid of it and tell their daughter that the robot simply disappeared.

Gloria mopes for a month until they to take her to New York to distract her with movies and sightseeing. Gloria’s thrilled because she thinks they are going to search for Robbie. At a museum, she asks a talking, sedentary robot if it knows where Robbie is; confused, the primitive machine breaks down. George suggests they take Gloria to the US Robots factory so she can see that Robbie is not a person but a machine. There, Gloria recognizes Robbie, who saves her from an oncoming warehouse trolley. Grace relents, and Gloria gets her robot back.

Years later, on the planet Mercury, two technicians, Gregory Powell and Mike Donovan, install a new robot to run a mining operation, but the robot, Speedy, gets stuck walking in a circle outside while searching for liquid selenium to power the station’s energy system.

Powell knows that all robots must obey three laws: They cannot hurt people; they must obey them; and they cannot hurt themselves unless that violates the first two laws. Riding giant drone robots, Powell and Donovan reach Speedy on the blazing-hot surface, but Speedy acts as if drunk. He cannot resolve the tension between the second and third Laws: If he collects the selenium, he will be damaged by the nearby volcanic vent. Powell steps away from his big robot and walks across the hot ground until Speedy snaps out of his confusion and saves the technician.

Their next job is to install a new command robot on a space station that converts solar power to a powerful energy beam aimed at Earth. Powell and Donovan discover that the robot, a QT model named Cutie, has decided that it is a creation of the station’s generator, and that this Master will soon discard the human operators as inferior workers.

A solar storm will shortly disrupt the energy beam, causing frightful damage to Earth, so Powell tries to convince Cutie of the danger. Cutie, though, does not believe in stars and planets, and it ignores Powell. The storm hits, but Cutie manages the energy beam so perfectly that Earth suffers no damage. Powell decides Cutie’s religion is harmless after all.

The team’s next visits an asteroid, where a command robot, Dave, manages six slave robots who dig for ore. Sometimes, though, the robots walk around in military formation, neglecting their mining duties. Powell and Donovan figure out that dangerous situations overload Dave’s judgment, and he removes the bots from risk by having them march. Powell shoots one of the slave robots, which removes one-sixth of the decision-making chores, and Dave recovers his sanity.

One day, US Robots builds a robot that accidentally acquires the ability to read human minds. At first, this is merely interesting, but the robot, Herbie, begins lying to the executives at the factory, telling them what he knows they want to hear instead of the truth that will hurt their feelings. Dr. Calvin, who has a crush on a fellow worker whom Herbie assures her is interested in her, discovers that the man is instead getting engaged to another woman. Two other executives are at each other’s throats because the robot has falsely claimed to one that the other will retire and name the first as his successor. Dr. Calvin solves the problem by reminding the perplexed robot that he must lie to make people happy, which also later makes them unhappy, which violates the First Law. The robot goes cannot handle the mental load and his brain collapses.

Researchers sometimes must face dangers, but their robots, obliged to protect them, will not permit them to do so. The government demands that US Robots secretly build robots that will stand aside while humans take certain risks. One of them, working on a secret project at a base far out in the solar system, annoys a researcher, who tells the robot to get lost, and the robot does so, hiding among a new shipment of identical robots. It must be found because it is dangerous if at large among humans, but all efforts to separate it prove fruitless. Dr. Calvin invents a test that can distinguish between the rogue robot’s behavioral response and those of the newer robots. When discovered, the rogue tries to kill her, but a researcher zaps the robot, killing it.

US Robots and competitors race to develop a faster-than-light engine that can take people quickly to faraway planets. The first super-brain machine to research it found that no one can live through the space-warp experience, and the machine, unwilling to create something lethal, breaks down. Dr. Calvin talks a US Robot super-brain into gently approaching the problem and quickly reporting in the moment it encounters a dilemma. The brain completes the calculations, builds a hyper-space ship, and sends Powell and Donovan all the way out of the galaxy and back. It turns out that anything that enters a space warp disappears from reality but reappears again after leaving the space warp. Thus, passengers die but then return to life, so there is no lasting harm.

Robots become a hot topic during a local mayoral election. Candidate Francis Quinn accuses his opponent, Stephen Byerley , of being a robot. Byerley, a district prosecutor, refuses to be tested, and he campaigns on the right to privacy violated by Quinn. During a speech, Byerley is confronted by a man who dares the candidate to slug him and prove he is not a robot. Byerley strikes the man and wins the election. Dr. Calvin realizes, though, that a robot may hit a person if that person is another robot.

Byerley becomes World Co-ordinator, and he discovers perturbations in the worldwide economy that is overseen by several computing Machines. He suspects that the anti-robot Society for Humanity is sabotaging the data. Dr. Calvin explains that the Machines already have taken the sabotage into account and have minimized its effects. In short, the machines now control the world’s economy; this prevents wars and the petty ambitions of rulers. Thus, though humans still think they are running things, it is really the robots who are in charge.

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Portrayals and perceptions of cinematic artificial intelligence: A mixed-method analysis of I, Robot (2004) and Chappie (2015)

2021, UNISA Reposotory

This study investigates the portrayal and perception of artificial intelligence (AI) in I, Robot (2004) and Chappie (2015), providing one of the first accounts of the causality between attitudes and expectations in the representation and reception of films about AI. The findings suggest that the level of optimism of a film is likely to be linked to its socio-cultural context. The humanoid representation of each robotic protagonist prevented each film from skewing too far towards the extremes of technological optimism or pessimism. This affected respondents’ attitudes immediately after viewership, but this affect was short-lived. Additionally, while portrayals of the future somewhat aligned to contemporary developments regarding weak AI, they were overly optimistic or pessimistic about the future of strong AI. This had little impact on respondents’ fears and expectations, as respondents used the films as visual aids to mentally depict abstract concepts relating to AI that were arrived at elsewhere.

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ASLI FAVARO, PhD

The developments in Artificial Intelligence promise a world where we'll be accustomed to an ongoing relationship with machines, exempt from the boundaries of space and time. Advancements in AI are culminating in robots, computers and systems capable of understanding more languages, meanings and feelings, and acting in a human-like way. While these advancements are met with general enthusiasm, they also raise concerns. This paper discusses the representations of fears, hopes and uncertainty about the technological scenarios and digital culture in popular sci-fi movies. Starting from an overview of the latest advancements in AI research and industry, the paper focuses on films such as Her (Spike Jonze, 2013), Transcendence (Wally Pfister, 2014) and Ex-Machina (Alex Garland, 2014) produced in the recent years, exploring possible futures of the man-machine/AI relationship, singling out some recurring elements that can describe the general sentiment about the coming future: questioning human beings' capacity of self-determination; questioning the idea of the uniqueness of humans; and the replacement of humans in interpersonal and private relationships.

International Journal of Computer Applications

Damian Schofield

The experience of interacting with robots is becoming a more pervasive part of our day-today life. When considering the experience of interacting with other technologies and artefacts, interaction with robots presents a distinct and potentially unique component: physical connection. Robots share our physical space; this is a prominent part of the interaction experience. Robots offer a lifelike presence and the Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) issues go beyond the traditional interactions of more passive technologies and artefacts. The attention paid to HRI has grown dramatically as robotic systems have become more capable and as human contact with those systems has become more commonplace [1]. Immediately recognizable, culturally ubiquitous, androids, cyborgs, and robots, need no introduction. Yet their very familiarity obscures their participation in culture and media, and our perennial fascination with such artificial humans when seen on the screen. While robots are growing more capable of many tasks, people are often hesitant at introducing technology into older, more traditional art forms. However, robots of varying kinds are appearing with increasing frequency in all manner of cinematic productions [2]. Robots and artificial humans have been a staple of our sci-fi screen experiences, however, unlike previous technology such as smartphones or laptops, robots are currently being given more character roles in films. Therefore, like animated characters, audiences are beginning to anthropomorphize and have emotional experiences with the robot characters. This paper attempts to unpack how humans see these artificial humans and how we interpret their representation in cinema through a discussion of the use of 'physical' robots as a natural next stage of cinema performance and drama. The paper presents and experiment involving cyborg performances in a series of short films. In this study, participants attended a screening where they viewed these films, and their responses to, and feelings about, the films were measured. It was hypothesized that film audiences have become comfortable with seeing robots in sci-fi films over the years. Therefore, it is expected that current and future audiences will begin to give these robot characters human attributes such as gender.

Maximiliano E. Korstanje

Artificial intelligence has revolved around the ideological core of social sciences as never before. Public opinion shows exegetes of AI and detractors who feared the advance of robots and AI in human life. Although AI makes life for humans faster and easier, no less true is that it reduces human autonomy, probably threatening future jobs. Quite aside from this, this chapter interrogates the impacts of AI and technology in science fiction movies. The authors analyze the critical position of different scholars regarding movies or Sagas such as The Terminator, Matrix, and HBO Saga Westworld. From a sociological perspective, they approach the problem of technology while placing it under the critical lens of scrutiny. In so doing, seminal voices like Paul Virilio, Jean Baudrillard, and Jacques Ellul are put in the foreground. Plausibly discussing the advance of AI in daily life is interrogating the future of digital society.

Kübra Nisanoğlu

In this thesis, the events from the origin of the word robot to today, the events that have taken place in science, society and cinema, the classifications of genres and sub-genres, and their effects on social and individual relations in contrast to human society and artificial intelligence have been examined. The effect of chaos and bidirectional problems on artificial intelligence and sub-genres-themed films during humanity, who is exposed to suddenly emerging high-tech products, regulates its relations with these devices and machines, which are new members of society, I examined through Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Artificial Intelligence, Ghost in the Shell, Ex Machina and Upgrade movies. ORCID NR: 0000-0002-3271-5401

Journal of Arts and Humanities

Damian Schofield , Noelle LeRoy

Immediately recognizable, culturally ubiquitous, androids, cyborgs, and robots, need no introduction. Yet their very familiarity obscures their participation in culture and media, and our perennial fascination with such artificial human devices when seen on the screen. This paper attempts to unpack how humans see these artificial humans and how we interpret their representation in cinema. In the context of cinema, appearance, as well as the interaction modality of a humanoid robot can play a crucial role in the perception of robots before and after short-term interactions. Although speech is the most common mode of communication in film, and is an intuitive way to interact with robots, the research reported in this paper also suggests that tactile interaction is important to the way people perceive and interact with robots. People cannot escape their own social identity, which heavily impacts their work and decisions: people themselves, and all their interactions, are embodied within and therefore fundamentally impacted by their body and identity. This paper proposes that even with better representation in cinema, improved sensitivity to gender and racial issues will still be important to promote fairness in the bold new future of cyborg cinema.

Diyalektolog Ulusal Hakemli Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi

Sinem Güdüm

In the Merriam-Webster dictionary (2020), humanization is described as representing something as "human" by giving it human qualities. This makes the non-human seem gentler, kinder, or more appealing to people. Such a trial to attribute some human characteristics to non-humans is defined as "Anthropomorphism". The results of studies show that a product presentation with anthropomorphism can actually be an influencial advertising tool, since it creates positive emotions among the audience and has a positive affect in their purchasing behavior. But are there any other possible underlying reasons for such an increase in sales when consumers are made to perceive material objects as 'human'? And is this advertising strategy being used in the movies today to promote the use of humanoid-robots? It should be noted that this kind of correlation made between the object and the subject (non living and the living) may have foreseeable drawbacks in the future, and they need to be attended. In this article, using anthropomorphism in movies for promoting humanoid robots will be discussed by analyzing the "EX-MACHINA" movie as a case study, and applying content and discourse analysis on the subject. YAPAY ZEKA ÇAĞINDA İNSANSI ROBOTLARIN TANITIMI İÇİN FİLMLERDE ANTROPOMORFİZM KULLANIMI: EX-MACHINA FİLMİ Özet Merriam-Webster sözlüğünde (2020), "insanlaştırma / humanization" bir şeyin "insan" olarak temsil edilir hale sokulması olarak tanımlanır; başka bir deyişle, insani nitelikleri insan olmayana atfedilmesidir. Cansız objelere, hayvan ya da bitkilere insani özellikler vermek, onların bireyler tarafından daha 'bilindik' algılanmalarına ve dolayısıyla daha yakın gözükmelerine sebebiyet verebilir. Tek başına bu tanım, insan yaşamında ve dolayısıyla reklamcılıkta "nesne" nin sürekli insanileştirilmesinin arkasındaki nedenlerden birini göstermektedir. İnsan özelliklerini insan olmayanlara atfetmek, antropomorfizm (insanbiçimcilik) olarak tanımlanır. Çalışmaların sonuçları gösteriyor ki, insanlaştırılmış bir ürün sunumunun izleyiciler arasında olumlu duygular yaratması ve satın alma davranışlarında olumlu bir etki yaratması nedeniyle antropomorphizm etkili reklam stratejilerindendir. Bu bağlamda, tüketicilerin nesneleri 'insan' olarak algılamaları sağlandığında satışlarda artış görülmesinin altında yatan başka olası nedenler nelerdir? Yapay zeka çağında insansı robotların kullanımını teşvik etmek için filmler bir reklam aracı olarak mı kullanılmaktadır? Nesne ile özne arasında kurulan böylesi korelasyonların gelecekte öngörülebilir sakıncaları olabileceği açıktır.

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The article is a short introduction in the problems of science fiction genre, posthumanism and a short presentation of the articles of the present volume.

Stephen Cave

Drs Cave, Dihal, and Dillon are funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Centre Grant awarded to the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence. Dr Singler was funded by a Templeton World Charitable Foundation grant during the course of the AI narratives project, awarded to the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, St Edmund's College, Cambridge.

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As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow, it is essential to understand how the public perceives this technology. This review article examines the interplay between news use, science fiction viewing, and technology discussions in shaping public attitudes towards AI. The article reviews existing literature and identifies key findings that highlight the importance of these factors in shaping public perception of AI. Moreover, the article discusses the potential for innovative approaches to further explore the relationship between these factors and their impact on attitudes towards AI. By highlighting the potential for innovation in this field, this article provides insights that can inform future research on the interplay between news use, science fiction viewing, technology discussions, and public attitudes towards AI. Overall, this review underscores the importance of considering the complex relationship between these factors in shaping public perceptions of AI and the need for ongoing research to better understand this interplay.

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‘The Wild Robot’ Review: It’s No ‘Iron Giant,’ Though DreamWorks’ Tale of a Wayward Droid Is a Keeper

The toon studio responsible for 'Shrek' and 'How to Train Your Dragon' desperately needs some fresh IP, and this kid-lit adaptation offers that and a radical new visual approach to CG animation.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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A gorgeous computer-generated cartoon with a human heart beating beneath its sleek, state-of-the-art surface, DreamWorks Animation’s “ The Wild Robot ” arrives at a time when the public seems more concerned than ever about being outsmarted by artificial intelligence. It’s somewhat ironic then that the movie, a lovely chosen-family fable adapted from the first book in Peter Brown’s open-ended series, features no human characters of consequence.

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Technically, the hunk of rock where “The Wild Robot” takes place is anything but uninhabited: It’s teeming with life, from the crabs that teach Roz to scale cliffs in the film’s opening minutes to the horde of evil-eyed raccoons determined to ransack her insides. This remote oasis is essentially one big forest, full of animals who would gladly eat one another for dinner.

While she wasn’t built with animal clients in mind, Roz is determined to find someone to serve. “Do you need …?” she asks a crustacean, seconds before a seagull scoops it up for dinner. (Too late.) “Do you need assistance?” she inquires of a fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal), who declines, but is still crafty enough to recognize that this strange machine could be helpful. Eventually, Roz settles on a gosling called Brightbill (Kit Connor), whose nest she crushed when she landed, killing its parents in the process.

“A ROZZUM always completes its task,” assures the mechanical nanny, whose commitment can be a bit suffocating at times. In theory, there could have been a much quieter version of “The Wild Robot” (à la “Wall-E”) that relies less on Nyong’o and more on our capacity to read emotion into what looks like a cross between BB-8 (from “The Force Awakens”) and Baymax (of “Big Hero 6”).

As it turns out, animation audiences are no strangers to robots, and it’s a shame the concept artists on this feature didn’t stretch a bit farther to distinguish Roz from all the droids that have come before, from Studio Ghibli’s stunning Laputa troopers to last year’s rudimentary “Robot Dreams.” Top of that mountain is “The Iron Giant,” a Brad Bird classic all but overlooked in theaters that found its audience over time, whose sylvan locations and fall-colors palette were obviously a big influence.

Still, there’s never been an animated movie that reflects the world in quite this way. While the animals are somewhat disappointingly designed (like the robots, the geese leave something to be desired, especially when compared with iconic duck-billed cousins Daffy and Donald), the expressionistic environments can take one’s breath away.

Sunsets, sea views and changing seasons suggest scenic calendar art come to life, as Sanders’ dynamic camera swoops through those spaces. He tends to frame scenes from a respectful distance. Allowing the environment to dwarf his characters gives things a slightly cosmic feel, subtly reinforcing how overwhelming the world can be to a “wild” robot and her savage companions.

There are no guarantees any of these creatures will survive. In fact, some don’t, while others lose body parts (including Roz, who relies on a beaver to whittle her a replacement leg). At one point, during the severely cold winter that follows Brightbill’s departure, Roz offers sanctuary to all the remaining animals, predator and prey alike. Her found family may start start small — with just her, Brightfill and Fink — but in time, it comes to encompass the whole island.

Throughout, the plot lends itself to montages more than scenes, during which Sanders lets the visuals do the talking — goosing the emotion of Brightbill’s migration with Maren Morris’ original song “Kiss the Sky.” While hardly realistic, “The Wild Robot” is different from so many other films where we hear animals speak, since this one relies on a sophisticated robot interpreter for us to understand. Sure, her intelligence may be artificial, but in the end, Roz’s emotional instincts are what make her so endearing.

Reviewed at Universal Studios screening room, Los Angeles, Aug. 23, 2024. In Toronto Film Festival (Gala Screenings). MPA Rating: PG. Running time: 101 MIN.

• Crew: Director: Chris Sanders. , based on the book by

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• I, Robot Summary

by Isaac Asimov

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.

Written by Tajtajun Shaik, eric montgomery, Harshini Joy and other people who wish to remain anonymous

The narrator is Susan Calvin, who has worked at US Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc for fifty years and has decided to explain her reasons for retiring.

She begins by talking about Robbie , a robot nursemaid for Gloria. Gloria’s mother detests robots as do a large proportion of the community and as such she conspires to get rid of it. This makes Gloria sad and so to teach her that robots are not really human and therefore should not be considered as that, her parents take her to a factory where Robbie is working. Gloria tried to get to Robbie and puts herself in danger, thereby triggering Robbie to save her and causing everyone to appreciate robots.

The story then jumps to 2015 where Powell and Donovan have been stranded on Planet Mercury and need to fix their generator, but have a useless robot called Speedy at their aid. However, Speedy manages to come to their aid and everyone celebrates him.

Months later, Powell and Donovan want Cutie , another robot, to take over control of a section of the space station, where energy is beamed down to Earth. However, because Cutie is a robot, he has no belief in the existence of Earth, and therefore does not believe in the concept of it. However, eh believes in the concept of the power converter and as such begins to make it his idol of worship. Everyone accepts this since it is doing no harm.

Another few months later, Donovan and Powell are trying to help another robot, Dave, manage other robots as part f his job. However, Dave becomes scared leading people. Donovan and Powell therefore try to change this by shooting another Robot and getting Dave to save him. Everyone is pleased by Dave’s efforts.

In 2021, Herbie a robot is built with the ability to read minds. However, because the First Law of robots is to not hurt people, Herbie tells people what they want to hear to stop hurting them. People begin to get angry at robots. In 2029, Susan is working on an anomaly robot who has been altered to avoid the Laws and is in hiding. He outsmarts them and almost gets away but is captured.

In 2032, Stephen Byerley is accused of being a robot and is tasked with disobeying the three Laws in order to prove he isn’t. He ends up hitting someone in the crowd, which proves he is human. However, Calvin believes he is a robot because robots can harm other robots, just not humans. However, no one contests this, and Stephen is considered a human. In 2052, robots are leaders of the world’s economy and have practically taken over. The interview at the end notes that Calvin died in 2064 and nobody knows how she spent her retirement years.

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I, Robot Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for I, Robot is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What is Susan's area of study?

From the text:

(The girl in her mid-teens left at that point. She had enough for her Physics-1 paper on “Practical Aspects of Robotics.” This paper was Susan Calvin’s first of many on the subject.)

Do you think that blowing up the “finger” of Dave was the best decision they could have made? why? In i robot . Chapter 4

Chapter titled, Reason?

Sorry, this is a literature site.

Study Guide for I, Robot

I, Robot study guide contains a biography of Isaac Asimov, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About I, Robot
• Character List

Essays for I, Robot

I, Robot essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the short stories in I, Robot by Isaac Asimov.

• On the Novum and the Dangers of Humanity’s Pursuit of Scientific Advancement
• Robot Discourse: Tik-Tok as a Response to I, Robot

Wikipedia Entries for I, Robot

• Introduction

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