Robotics Through Science Fiction: Artificial Intelligence Explained Through Six Classic Robot Short Stories

by Robin R. Murphy (Editor)

Six classic science fiction stories and commentary that illustrate and explain key algorithms or principles of artificial intelligence.This book presents six classic science fiction stories and commentary that illustrate and explain key algorithms or principles of artificial intelligence. Even though all the stories were originally published before 1973, they help readers grapple with two questions that stir debate even today: how are intelligent robots programmed? and what are the limits of autonomous robots? The stories--by Isaac Asimov, Vernor Vinge, Brian Aldiss, and Philip K. Dick--cover telepresence, behavior-based robotics, deliberation, testing, human-robot interaction, the "uncanny valley," natural language understanding, machine learning, and ethics. Each story is preceded by an introductory note, "As You Read the Story," and followed by a discussion of its implications, "After You Have Read the Story." Together with the commentary, the stories offer a nontechnical introduction to robotics. The stories can also be considered as a set of--admittedly fanciful--case studies to be read in conjunction with more serious study.

Contents
"Stranger in Paradise" by Isaac Asimov, 1973
"Runaround" by Isaac Asimov, 1942
"Long Shot" by Vernor Vinge, 1972
"Catch That Rabbit" by Isaac Asimov, 1944
"Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" by Brian Aldiss, 1969
"Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick, 1953

Genres: Nonfiction

198 pages, Paperback

Published December 25, 2018

Reviews

[Rachel Bea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shelving as both nonfiction and science fiction. The book provides background to the stories and then a discussion following each one. i'm obviously not an expert in robotics after reading just one book, but I definitely feel like I learned something! And now I know what topics in robotics are more interesting to me and can go from here. Anyway, I really liked how thorough these chapters were, yet how readable too.

The story collection itself was great. I'm so used to reading a short story collection and disliking at least some of them. I actually enjoyed every single one. But if I had to rate the stories in order of my favorite:

6. Stranger in Paradise by Isaac Asimov
5. Runaround by Isaac Asimov
4. Catch that Rabbit by Isaac Asimov
3. Supertoys Last All Summer Long by Brian Aldiss
2. Second Variety by Phiip K. Dick
1. Long Shot by Vernor Vinge

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concept. The short story choices were all good reads, and very different in theme and style. I'd actually read two of the Asimov selections but it was a pleasure to go back again. The insights after each chapter were cool, and a good intro to some topics in robotics for a layman

[Bogdan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reazemul acestei cărți sunt cele șase povestiri SF "clasice" despre roboți și/sau despre AI: trei sunt de Asimov, pentru că bineînțeles, iar restul de Brian Aldiss, Vernor Vinge și Philip K. Dick. Perioada în care au fost publicate este 1942-1973, când de-abia se inventase serviciul de e-mail, aveam prototipuri de roboți autonomi, chiar și unele modele de AI primitive (foarte limitate), nu lansasem încă Voyager 1, Star Wars nu apăruse, iar oamenii călcaseră pentru ultima dată pe Lună cu un an înainte (1972). Cu alte cuvinte, motivul pentru această selecție de mini-opere pare a fi aleatoriu, indicând mai degrabă preferințe personale decât o secțiune transversală onestă de-a lungul întregului spectru de povești SF cu AI și roboți.
Sau cine știe? Autoarea fiind profesor la Universitatea de Calculatoare din Texas, cu un background foarte bogat în studiul roboticii și AI-ului, probabil a ales narațiunile care exprimă optim tot ce trebuie știut despre ambele subiecte.
Autorii sunt legendari, monștri sacri trecuți în neființă ai SF-ului, practic must-reads; deci nu avem ce critica din acest punct de vedere. Ce poate totuși ridica o sprânceană critică sub privirea de vultur a unui ochi cârcotaș sunt explicațiile tehnice și non-beletristice ale doamnei profesor, care acompaniază fiecare povestire în cel mai pur stil academic: profesional, uscat, degrabă învârtitor în jurul cozii, uneori efectiv de lemn și care are un iz foarte puternic de nevoie de un word count par și de ordinul miilor. Lăsând totuși la o parte această disonanță cognitivă avem o carte publicată de însăși MIT cu povești SF - un win-win, cum ar veni.

[theStorykeeper · Rating 3 out of 5]

CW: violence, death (last story); apocalyptic themes (multiple)

[Samet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indispensable resource for scifi nerds like me :) Full of insight!