The True Laws of Robotics, From A True Robot Master
Rules for AI as well, just in time for the latest escalation
Nothing illustrates the power of science fiction better than Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.
Asimov coined them (in 1942!) after conversations with other SF writers and editors, because the laws' interactions make for good stories. But he also thought of them as scientifically possible and even necessary -- indeed, some sources say he felt they were an obvious set of principles for any kind of machine. He did not, however, set them forth as a research program. Yet many real discussions of AI and robots and ethics allude to these laws.
In 1942 there was no real-world experience to inform theory. In 2024, of course, that's not so. Many people have made many robots over the past few decades.
Few, though, have been responsible for as many robots as Rodney Brooks (known to us civilians for the Roomba and to soldiers for the Packbot bo…