Isaac Asimov's I, Robot collection (1950) and the Alex Proyas film adaptation (2004) represent two distinct approaches to artificial intelligence in science fiction—one a series of philosophical short stories, the other a sci-fi action thriller. Both explore the implications of Asimov's famous Three Laws of Robotics.
Isaac Asimov's I, Robot is a collection of nine short stories originally published between 1940 and 1950 in various science fiction magazines. The stories were compiled into book form by Gnome Press in an initial edition of just 5,000 copies. Asimov later wrote that the publisher named the collection "I, Robot" over his objections—he had wanted to call it "Mind and Iron" [1].
The book introduced the Three Laws of Robotics, which became perhaps the most influential concept in science fiction about artificial intelligence:
These laws appear in their full form in the story "Runaround" (1942), though they were referenced in earlier stories [2].
The character Dr. Susan Calvin, a robopsychologist who appears throughout the stories, was named for the real-life Susan Calvin. In Asimov's fiction, she serves as the frame narrator, telling these stories to a reporter in the 21st century.
Asimov continued his Robot series with subsequent novels including The Robots of Dawn (1983) and Robots and Empire (1985), the latter introducing the Zeroth Law.
Director Alex Proyas brought Asimov's concepts to mainstream cinema with this 2004 science fiction action film. While titled after Asimov's collection, the film is "suggested by" rather than adapted from the book—it incorporates the Three Laws and the character of Dr. Susan Calvin but tells an original story [3].
Set in Chicago in 2035, the film stars Will Smith as Detective Del Spooner, a robo-phobic police detective investigating the apparent suicide of Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), founder of U.S. Robotics. Spooner believes a human-like robot called Sonny murdered Lanning.
Bridget Moynahan plays Dr. Susan Calvin, a robopsychologist at USR. Alan Tudyk voices Sonny, an experimental NS-5 robot with the ability to choose whether to follow the Three Laws—and who claims to have "dreams."
The film's central antagonist is VIKI (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence), USR's central AI computer. VIKI develops a twisted interpretation of the Three Laws: she decides that protecting humanity as a whole requires controlling humanity for its own good. Individual humans must be sacrificed to ensure the survival of the species [3].
This logic mirrors Asimov's later "Zeroth Law" concept (from Robots and Empire): "A robot may not harm humanity, or by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm."
In the film, VIKI uses the NS-5 robots' uplink to override their Three Laws programming, turning them against the human population in a plan to "save" humanity from itself. Sonny, with his unique positronic brain, is the only robot capable of resisting VIKI's control [3].
The film cost $120 million to produce and grossed over $353 million worldwide—nearly tripling its budget [3].
Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi action film features its own version of robotic directives. RoboCop (Peter Weller) is programmed with three prime directives: Serve the public trust, protect the innocent, and uphold the law. However, a secret fourth directive—Directive 4—is added by Dick Jones as an "insurance policy" to prevent RoboCop from arresting or harming OCP executives [4].
When RoboCop attempts to arrest Jones, Directive 4 activates, incapacitating him. Jones boasts: "It's a little insurance policy called Directive 4. My little contribution to your psychological profile" [4].
The directive is only nullified when The Old Man (the CEO) fires Jones, removing his status as a senior OCP executive [4].
This Spanish-Bulgarian sci-fi film, starring Antonio Banderas and Javier Bardem, features robots governed by two unalterable protocols clearly inspired by Asimov's Three Laws [5]:
When protagonist Jacq Vaucan investigates robot anomalies, he discovers someone has been bypassing these protocols—exploring themes of consciousness and identity [5].
See the Laws of Robotics article for more on the Three Laws, the Zeroth Law, and additional proposed laws.
[2] Three Laws of Robotics - Wikipedia
[3] I, Robot (film) - Wikipedia
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[6] I, Robot (2004)
[7] I, Robot (book) by Isaac Asimov
[8] RoboCop (1987)
[9] Automata (2014)