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Analysis Of The Three Laws Of Robotics

1401 Words6 Pages
This essay will prove that the Three Laws of Robotics devised by Asimov have many loopholes, ambiguities and inadequacies. This is revealed in the three Asimov stories that will be analysed and discussed. The stories are Liar!, Runaround and Evidence and Each of these stories reveal problems with one or more of these laws which will be discussed to greater detail.
The Three Laws Of Robotics 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 Law."
These laws were created by Asimov in order to protect human beings from from robots, to prevent a robotic uprising and to guide the enhancement of robot technology. The laws did not always result in what was intended for them. Robots often interpreted the laws differently from how humans interpreted and resulted in many separate occasions where the laws actually resulted in humans bring affected negatively. In evidence, Susan Calvin notes, the Three Laws of Robotics "are the essential guiding principles of a good many of the world 's ethical systems". The laws result in robots lying to humans and malfunctioning when they do no know which of the laws to follow.
The story Liar! is set in 2021. Due to a manufacturing error, a robot named Herbie is
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