Robot Visions

Robot #0.5

by Isaac Asimov

Spanning Asimov's fifty-year career, this collection of eighteen stories and essays offers a visionary study of humankind's future relationship with robots, including both classic and original pieces, all based on Asimov's three laws of robotics

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Robots, Classics, Science Fiction Fantasy, Audiobook

Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Steven Medina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es bueno, pero…

Esta vez no tengo mucho que decir porque el contenido de este libro es prácticamente el mismo que aparece en El Robot Completo, y como aquel lo leí primero, obviamente es innecesario repetir en este espacio las impresiones que ya escribí en esa reseña. Las únicas diferencias son dos o tres cuentos que son exclusivos para esta edición y una sección de ensayos escritos por Asimov que ayudan a entender mejor su mundo literario.

Aquella sección de ensayos no es imprescindible de leer, pero es entretenida y en mi opinión vale la pena conocer. Las ideas de Asimov sobre la robótica son muy profundas, invitan a la reflexión y con su prosa amena atrapan al lector para que siga interesándose por sus historias. De hecho, antes de leer el siguiente libro de Asimov, es muy posible que relea sus ensayos con más calma para deleitarme de aquellas charlas que parecen conferencias de TED. Realmente, me gustaron mucho.

Lo que sí me molesto mucho de este libro es que creí, erróneamente, que los cuentos que aparecerían en esta edición serían distintos a los que ya conocía. Pero obviamente eso no fue lo que encontré. Y claro, eso me molestó porque tuve que abrir ambos libros y comparar los títulos de los cuentos para no leer nada repetido. Tal vez no gasté demasiado tiempo haciéndolo, pero fue irritante la incomodidad. Esos pequeños detalles pueden arruinan la experiencia.

Y sobre la calificación, bueno, realmente le he colocado tres estrellas porque no sé cómo debería puntuar este libro. ¿Tener en cuenta solo lo nuevo que leí? ¿Utilizar mis impresiones de los cuentos que ya conocía fingiendo que jamás los había leído para calificar este volumen? ¿Asumir simplemente que son dos libros diferentes? Sinceramente, nunca me había pasado esto y no sé cómo proceder porque en realidad solo leí como cien páginas de las quinientas que componen esta edición. No me parece justo colocarle una calificación alta porque prácticamente es una réplica de El Robot Completo, pero tampoco es justo colocarle una calificación baja porque el contenido no es malo, solo que no era nuevo para mí… Menudo embrollo en el que me he metido…

En fin, pues eso es Visiones de Robot, un libro que disfrutarán si no han leído Yo, Robot o El Robot completo, y que presenta los mejores cuentos sobre robots que Asimov escribió en su vida.

Mi siguiente lectura debería sería leer Sueños de Robot, pero como ya he investigado y parece que el contenido de este libro nuevamente es repetido, entonces me saltaré y comenzaré a leer Las bóvedas de acero. Ese será mi próximo destino. No quiero complicarme más.

[Jeraviz · Rating 3 out of 5]

No sé si soy yo o los relatos de robots de Asimov están publicados de forma muy liosa. Pensaba que me había leído todos con los Cuentos Completos y anteriores recopilaciones, pero descubro aquí que me faltaban unos pocos.

En esta antología se recogen 36 relatos (incluyendo los más conocidos como Robbie, o los de Susan Calvin), y también varios ensayos del propio autor hablando sobre la robótica.

Si tienes afán completista puede ser un libro interesante, sobre todo por los ensayos, donde vemos un poco más la mentalidad de Asimov y algunas de sus predicciones de lo que ocurrirá en el futuro.
Sobre los relatos, si has leído otras recopilaciones, los más emblemáticos ya los habrás leído y aquí aparecen algunos de los últimos publicados (década de los 80). No te pierdes nada importante.

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of Asimov's deathless Robot series, shorter works that add up to a guiding vision of what Humanity strives for in the creation of a computerized mechanical slave class, starts with an essay entitled "The Robot Chronicles." As I assume most everyone reading Asimov in this day and time is reasonably familiar with the stories that make up the series, I'll confine my observations to the essay which is not otherwise available in print, though it exists on audio for your edification.

Asimov, a lecherous old hump with a *terrible* (richly deservedly so) reputation among female fandom, made some conceptual leaps in his career that have remained extremely relevant to the modern world. His centenary was this past second of January. His reputation is such that the jollifications in fandom were...muted. This is understandable, even laudable, but still regrettable. The Three Laws of Robotics, with which his essay deals in a way I did not expect, alone should guarantee his place on the podium of Authors of Merit. But as sensitivity and awareness and the need for all of us to do better now that we know better are in operation, there must needs be a period of desuetude for famous offenders against our new order.

Nothing will knock his contributions out of use. His name will, whether temporarily or permanently, be expunged from the common usage of the robotics conversation (or so I predict). But he remains the originator of the modern technical and social conception of the Robot.

This essay is a personal history of how and why and who and what led Isaac Asimov to develop the Laws, the concept of the robot that he adopted and adapted so thoroughly from Karel Čapek's 1920 play R.U.R., and the enduring trope of the machine that longs to be human. (No, he was not the first to bring that idea to the table. Please spare me comments about Galatea and other inanimate objects of personification. They are all stipulated as predecessors to Asimov's creation and influences thereon, conscious or unconscious, herewith.) As a personal essay reflecting on Asimov's reasons for and responses to his robotics work, I found the half-hour or so of reading deeply pleasurable.

Not five-star's worth, though. I found a smugness, arguably earned, in his telling (retelling, more like, since he had given this text as talks over the years he was lionized) that is a fundamentally squicky emotion for me. I don't think anyone really intelligent is ever free of smugness. I also think it ill becomes the intelligent not to include some self-deprecation in their smugness, some overt and clear signal that they understand and are sorry for the feeling of irritation and annoyance their (however well-earned) expertise elicits in the hearer/reader. Asimov does not do that here...his response, for example, to the OFTEN brought charge that Roddenberry used Asimov's Bicentennial Man as source material for Lt. Cmdr. Data: "I didn't mind."

Aren't you kind.

Still, there it is. Along with being a handsy old letch he was an arrogant bastard. And a genius at some things (though not particularly at the *craft* of writing). And a light gone out too soon. He was a stripling of seventy-two when he died, and I for one would give a not-very-affordable decade off my life to hear what he'd have to say about the modern world.

If you don't want to read his Robot stories, listen to the essay on audio. But I think you'll want to read them once you do.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've enjoyed everything that I've ever read by Asimov, and this is no exception. Hardly surprising at this point. The robot short stories are always very fun to read. It's amazing how many great story ideas he was able to get out of three unbreakable laws, isn't it?

Let's break this collection down a bit. Of the 18 stories in this collection, seven can also be found in I, Robot. In fact, every story from I, Robot but one can also be found here, without the linking text starring Susan Calvin. I'm not saying that people who have read I, Robot can skip Robot Visions, or vice versa. Far from it. I love the linking text in I, Robot, and would have been sorry to miss it. And there are truly excellent stories here that aren't in I, Robot, including one with Elijah Baley and Daneel. Despite the overlap, I'm glad that I read both collections. I, Robot was, to my memory, the first that I ever read of Asimov, so seeing those stories again was somewhat nostalgic. Plus, the cover art is really spectacular.

The essays, on the other hand, will probably leave a lot of readers cold. For me, I was amazed at how little they felt dated, considering that the most recent essay is now 25 years old. I think it's in the conversational, easy way Asimov is able to explain his thoughts, and it certainly helped that he was thinking so far ahead. I didn't like all of them, to be honest, but as a whole they were far more interesting than not. I forget sometimes that a lot of his writing was nonfiction, and this was a good reminder.

But this is probably only a book for real enthusiasts of Asimov's brand of robots. Everyone else should stick to I, Robot, which is a great book in its own right.

[Simona B · Rating 5 out of 5]

“...for if we study in detail two entirely different kinds of intelligence, we may learn to understand intelligence in a much more general and fundamental way than is now possible...”

Robot Visions contains three stories not included in The Complete Robot, namely "Christmas Without Rodney"(1988), "Too Bad!" (1989) and the titular "Robot Visions" (1990). It also features a series of short essays all concerning machines in general and, some, robots in particular, and the hardcore Asimov devotee will certainly rejoice in the authorial commentary and inspiring insights they provide in relation to the robot stories, and not only.

[Xabi1990 · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10.
Otro recopilatorio de cuentos de robots. Pues eso, que lo mismo que comenté para Yo Robot o Sueños de robot: que las Tres Leyes y Asimov siempre estarán conmigo.

[Alice Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

After I, Robot, I was hungry for more robot stories, and Robot Visions was the only other robot collection I could find at my local library. A good chunk of the collection are in I, Robot, but without the connecting segments where Susan Calvin was interviewed. I personally enjoyed I, Robot more and thought the stories collected there were more solid, but this is by no means a weak collection at all. More mysteries, more puzzles, more situations where your inner child delights at the faithful robot and cheers for the happy ending, and your more mature brain ponders the many questions that Asimov proposes in each story. The collection of short essays at the end of the book was a pure pleasure to read. Asimov comes off as a playful and optimistic person/writer that I find very endearing.

The more I read Asimov, the more I admire his writing style. He doesn't take roundabout ways of saying anything that can be said in a line, and he doesn't spend pages setting up or spewing personal agenda. His heroes aren't overwrought with overwhelming personal pain or anguish and he doesn't try to fit a metaphor into every other line. He doesn't say unnecessary shit, and the result is a prose that reads naturally and cleanly. I love it.

[Rosanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prima Legge: “Un robot non può recar danno a un essere umano né può permettere che a causa del proprio mancato intervento un essere umano riceva danno”.

Seconda legge: “Un robot deve obbedire agli ordini impartiti dagli esseri umani purché tali ordini non contravvengano alla prima legge”.

Terza legge: “Un robot deve proteggere la propria esistenza purché questo non contrasti con la prima e la seconda legge”.

Successivamente l’autore di “Io Robot” ne aggiungerà una quarta, superiore per importanza a tutte le altre ma valida solo per gli automi più sofisticati, definita legge zero: “Un robot non può recar danno all’umanità e non può permettere che, a causa di un suo mancato intervento, l’umanità riceva danno”.

Dopo i racconti, una serie di piccoli saggi molto interessanti.
Da leggere assolutamente quello che ha per titolo 'I nuovi docenti', più che mai auspicabile.

[David Sarkies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three New Stories and some Repetitive Essays
23 September 2020

I have to admit that the only reason I purchased this book was so that I could read the three robot stories that aren’t in any of the other books that I have, and that is quite annoying because there are a bunch of stories that appear in the other books meaning that I pretty much skipped half the book because it ended up that I would be simply rereading something that I have read multiple times before. Still, as I mentioned, there were three stories that I hadn’t read, as well as a collection of essays that Asimov wrote on robots, one of them back in the 50s, and the rest of them in the 80s.

As he says, most of his robot stories deal with conflicts in the Three Laws of Robotics (something that he drums on about repeatedly, as well as the fact that he is the first person to have ever coined the term robotics, though he also points out that this is probably the only long-lasting contribution that he has ever made to humanity). The first few stories weren’t so much like this, but when he and Campbell sat down and nutted out the rules, they did open up lots of opportunities to write about how they interact, and the problems that arise when these laws come into conflict. Then again, the entire legal profession builds itself around the fact that laws can never be hard and fast, and there are always exceptions, and loopholes, and ambiguities that can be exploited. As some have said, every time you attempt to plug a loophole in the law, a hundred more open up.

One interesting story has a robot named Rambo (Asimov suggested that all robots have names that start with R, meaning that no human has a name that starts with R). This quite clearly tells us when the novel was written because, well, the word Rambo only entered the English language after the character appeared in the film First Blood (which I have to admit is actually a pretty good film). I sometimes wonder if this was intentional, namely because Asimov is demonstrating how language changes over time, and that you can actually date a story based upon the words that are used, even a word that is as innocuous as a name (my English teacher once said that the name Shane didn’t appear until after the film of the same name, though the internet suggests that he may have been wrong).

With the essays, it is interesting to see how dated that they are. Okay, we did have a rudimentary form of the internet back in the 80s, but Asimov was writing as if robots needed to have all of their thinking power inside of their units, but this is no longer the case, with wifi and with the internet. In fact, with the development of the cloud, processing power is stored elsewhere and software accesses this power remotely, meaning that robots don’t need to have all of the processing power inside of them. In fact, I suspect that a lot of automation is done this was these days, and that driverless cars would also be using this technology (though it doesn’t solve the problem of what would happen if the network went down).

Yet there is also the question of whether robots can ever think and react like humans. Sure, we have machine learning, and some of the methods are designed to mimic the way the human brain works, yet the catch is that human brains don’t think in binary – we think in different ways – computers simply come down to thinking in terms of 0s and 1s. Another thing is that you have to tell computers everything that it needs to know. For instance, if we put a cup on the table, we know that this cup will be there when we return (unless something happens otherwise, such as our housemate puts it in the dishwasher). This needs to be programmed into the robot, as well as contingencies (if it is not there, somebody has moved it – yeah programming computers comes down to a lot of if/then statements).

It is interesting to see how Facebook developed the reactions that exist beyond simple likes. We were discussing this in one of our Machine Learning classes, how it is a way to teach computers what makes us sad, what makes us laugh, and so on. Yet, I’m still not convinced, that we all of this data being passed through Facebook’s servers, that a computer will learn to be able to respond to a joke or even be able to create one themselves. Another thing is that the first time we hear a joke we consider it funny, but as time goes on, and we continue to hear it, it ceases to be funny – can a computer be trained in that method as well, or is it the case that if a computer learns that something is funny, then it just laughs whenever it sees that joke, without realising that the joke has ceased to be funny years ago.

It is interesting reading this book, and the essays, after two and a half years of computer science, and halfway through an AI subjects. I suspect that a lot of developments came out of Asimov’s theories, but there were a lot of things that he couldn’t speculate on because, well, he was a chemist that liked writing Science-Fiction. Personally, computers tend to be reactionary, and can really only react to things that it is told to react to. Okay, they can search, but once again the parameters must be given to it. On the other hand, one can argue that the same is the case with us. However, our brain is able to take in an awful lot more information, whereas computers must be instructed to take that information, and has to be specific as well. Sure, we do have advanced machine learning algorithms, but the reason is that people have already created them. Mind you, as Asimov suggested, even when robots to replace humans, they also tend to open up a lot more jobs that humans are required to do.

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

18 short stories including 'Robbie' and 'The 'Bicentennial Man' and 16 essays on science fiction and the robot sub genre. Despite the number of stories in this book, Asimov's ideas and situations held well with the core foundation (no pun intended) being the three laws of robotics. Certainly a must read for Asimov fans. 5 out of 12

[Andrew Rockwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars—-

Asimov is my favorite classic sci-fi writer. These stories vary in subject matter, but my favorites are the stories that are philosophical in nature.
What it means to be human, focusing on themes like identity and love.
The Bicentennial Man was fantastic, and is the basis for the Robin Williams movie that I loved as a kid.
These stories are also where Asimov coined the term “robotics”, where before there was no term for the study of robots.

[Tomer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is roughly divided between short stories \ novelettes and various essays by the author. The former {at least for me} were familiar from his other works, while the latter had some various insights and explanations about the author's perspective and motives throughout his life and stories. Unfortunately these were originally published over time, making this gathered version to have recurring repetitions.

[Mackenzie Melo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had forgotten how much I really like Asimov's writing style, be it for short stories, novellas, novels and essays!

This book, with the exception of novels, has the other three and with great examples of them all.

Robbie, Roundabout, Reason and Liar are great examples of short stories. I love the novella The Bicentennial Man and from the essays, I can't stop rereading The Sense of Humor.

The only downside to this book, especially the essays at the end, is that he repeats the Three Laws of Robotics in all of them which turns out to be too repetitive to read them together. Of course we understand that these articles were written throughout 50 years, therefore the repetition was necessary to the readers that were getting to them for the first time.

Nevertheless, I really love this book!

Highly recommended!

[Cheryl]

Pre-reading research reveals that I, Robot, is the first collection of short stories. Second is The Rest of the Robots. Robot Dreams only has one new story in it. The Complete Robot is reported to be truly complete.

This, I dunno. Another selection of some of the musty favorites and dusty rarities, but nothing actually new?
-------------
Read. I did read Complete a few months ago, and so nothing here was new (I don't think). I did skip the non-fiction essays at the end. And I skimmed the stories that I remembered clearly enough. Of course, if this is the only collection of Asimov's Robot shorts you have available, I recommend it as a five star must read. And if you're a hard-core completist, the pictures add enough interest that you won't likely feel you're wasting your time. The rest of us can stick with other collections.

[Dave Packard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really 3.5 stars... this is mostly a book of Asimov’s robot short stories which are great. I had read some in the past, but some were new to me, and I love his robot tales! Unfortunately for me the last about 1/4 of the book is his essays on robots, psychology, futurism, etc. and I found that as the robot stories have held up well the essays have not. So final word, if you are not a completionist read the short stories and leave the essays behind!

[Erin the Avid Reader ⚜BFF's with the Cheshire Cat⚜]

The review by Arthur C. Clarke is what partially made me interested in this. That and also thinking Isaac Asimov is the allfather of Sci-fi.

Also, ROBOTS.

[Larry Bassett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find myself reading, or listening to actually a significant amount of science fiction recently for the first time in my reading career, which is lengthy. Because I am not a practiced or experienced science-fiction reader, I am experiencing the interest of a new and unique experience.

This particular book is a collection of, a long series of robot stories by this particular author. As is sometimes the case in this kind of a collection gathered from over time, putting them all in one place can create some repetition. If you read the stories as they initially were published over a number of years, the repetition or familiarity would probably be less problematic. However, reading the stories in quick sequence, makes the repetition somewhat more problematic and less enjoyable.

At the end of the book, there are a number of short essays by the author, which reflect his thinking about his long career as a science-fiction writer. Those again can be somewhat repetitious, and since they often reflect on stories that were previously included in the book, that only emphasizes the repetition.

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than average collection. I especially enjoyed the Bicentennial Man (I vaguely remember a movie with Robin Williams... Must investigate).

[Srividya N Suresh · Rating 3 out of 5]

He takes great pleasure in playing around with his 3 laws of robotics. It’s.. interesting. But maybe this was too big a task right after Robot Dreams. Which I think is the better book anyway.

[aLejandRø · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este volumen reúne 18 relatos y 16 ensayos, es el primero de la “Serie de los Robots” y contiene casi todos las historias del clásico “Yo Robot”.

Los cuentos son fieles al estilo Asimoviano, donde predomina el dialogo por sobre lo descriptivo y giran en torno en las célebres “3 Leyes de la Robótica” y sus infinitas interpretaciones.
Los relatos de Asimov son adictivos, inventivos, divulgativos y muy imaginativos, pero su mayor virtud radica en plantear complejas situaciones utilizando un lenguaje simple y accesible.

Sucede algo similar con sus entretenidos ensayos, (puerta de entrada de este lector al mundo Asimov y al universo de la Ciencia Ficción), que generalmente versan sobre los temas preferidos del buen Doctor: su obra y él mismo.

[P.J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mas bien 3.5
La verdad con las lecturas del 2019 me queda claro que no me gustan los libros de cuentos.
Tiene varios que se incluyen en Yo, robot; tiene otros iconicos como El hombre bicentenario muy buenos, asi como reflexiones del autor y como fue concibiendo sus novelas... Pero hay otros la verdad que estaban bien fomes

[Vylūnė · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Francesca Calarco · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a world where so many stories in the sci-fi and speculative genres tend to be bleak and gritty, Isaac Asimov's Robot Visions is a sweet breath of fresh air. Asimov includes in this volume both short works of fiction and essays that formulate a cohesive imagined universe, as well as a fully fleshed out vision of future technology.

It is impossible to talk about anything in this collection without diving into Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, as first formally presented in the short story "Runaround" -
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.

These rules act as the underlying principles that methodically build a believable world based in logical actions and reactions. The robots are not symbols for certain types of humans, there are no identities forced upon them, they simply exist as in accordance with these three laws. That is one narrative angle that makes the Asimov's robots so intriguing. Robots are stripped bare of human prejudices and avarice, and what is left is just as telling about humans as it is about these entirely new entities.

In the essay "The Friends We Make," Asimov explains, "...we relate to all nonhuman things by finding, or inventing, something human about them. We attribute human characteristics to our pets, and even to our automobiles. We personify nature and all the products of nature and, in earlier times, made human-shaped gods and goddesses out of them" (419).

As much as I love films like The Terminator or 2001: A Space Odyssey, these stories' malignant robots are truly just a projection of human fears of the unknown. In many of the stories of Robot Visions, Asimov goes a step further to shed a light on and even poke fun of peoples' fears of being replaced by robots. Humans are competitive and many different groups have overpowered and displaced (even replaced) one another throughout history. It makes sense humans would fear a man made, physically stronger, human-shaped entity as a potential threat with the same unfortunate proclivities. So Asimov's robots cannot harm people, though he does flirt with the idea of robots replacing humans as not the worst thing, given their built-in benevolence.

While breaking robots down to the three laws 'dehumanizes' them so to speak, there is nothing hallow or inhuman about Asimov's stories. In fact, by showing robots operate solely within these simple principles, greater truths about what it means to be human are unearthed. I think this is displayed most strongly in "The Bicentennial Man," a story that completely opened my own mind on what it truly means to accept an otherly entity's autonomy in the same way we would do so for another person's humanity. People sympathize with suffering and the innate finality of life, and we have a hard time understanding separate entities that do not exist in these same temporary realities. Even though we fear death, we fear entities not subject to death with the same gravity.

Robo-psychiatrist Dr. Susan Calvin shows up in a number of these stories, and in "Galley Slave" she succinctly concludes, "It is only by being concerned for robots that one can truly be concerned for the twenty-first century man" (391). To understand the other, is to understand (and maybe even love) the self. Robots are not humans, but it is with this continuous moral theme that Asimov creates such a hopeful and optimistic universe filled with humanity.

Another component of this collection that I greatly enjoyed, was Asimov's history of robots. He may have popularized the concept, and even inspired real life scientist's work, but he did not invent the idea and makes that very clear. By including a cultural history that touches on anthropomorphized gods of Greek traditions, and golems of Jewish lore, he better makes a clear case for the principles that make his own universe tick. If you are a nerd who loves both history and science, this is pretty dope stuff.

Overall, I loved this collection and I am excited to read more of Asimov's work. Just as the concept of robots is now well established in the present day zeitgeist, Asimov now has an established a place in my otherwise cold and unfeeling heart.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to “read” The Complete Robot by Isaac Asimov but it wasn’t available on audio (my preferred format for consuming old science fiction). However, Audible.com had three anthologies of Asimov’s stories, I, Robot, Robot Dreams, and Robot Visions. So I wrote out a list of all the stories in The Complete Robot and marked which stories were available on audio in these three audiobooks. After listening to Robot Dreams I had a new appreciation for Isaac Asimov. Now that I’ve finished Robot Visions I have even more appreciation. But boy, I sure am sick of hearing the Three Laws of Robotics being restated.

Robot Visions (1990) has 18 short stories about robots and computers, and 17 essays about writing about robots and computers. Listening to these two volumes you realize just how much of Asimov’s life was devoted to thinking about robots. These stories cover 48 years – from “Robbie” (1940) to “Christmas With Rodney” (1988). Asimov died in 1992, so that’s pretty much his entire writing life.

You can read the rest of my review at my blog:

https://classicsofsciencefiction.com/...

[Yohans Dark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gustó mucho esta recopilación de relatos (aunque vengan unos cuantos en otros libros que supuestamente debía leer posterior a este)

Viene con algunos ensayos del autor, cosa que agradezco bastante, aunque no me agrada que cuente con temas o spoilers de sus novelas sobre robots. Se supone que este debe leerse antes de "Bovedas de acero" Pero cuenta con adicciones de "robots e imperio" Y son spoilers bastante fuertes que por suerte no me estropearon la experiencia (gracias a que leí este después).

Por otro lado, sus ensayos sobre las 3 leyes y como fue implementando en la cultura la terminología de robots (que no fue obra suya) o la robótica en general, son asombrosos. Nos habla también de sus orígenes con su primer relato "Robbie" Y mini historias donde aparece el grandioso Daneel Olivaw.

Una buena recopilación, digna de Asimov.

Nota: 7/10

[Vakaris the Nosferatu · Rating 5 out of 5]

all reviews in one place:
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu

About the Book: A collection of short stories on robots, robotics (term coined by Isaac Asimov himself), the fundamental laws all robots are ingrained with, as foundation to their very being, and our life with them. Each story is better than the previous one, of two different species trying to live together, and survive each other.

My Opinion: The stories don’t seek to moralize, nor do they portray robots as the big and the bad, here to replace us all. It’s interesting, it’s curious, it’s strange, and at times – amusingly old.

[Igor Neox · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the 18 short stories are awesome, but what I liked even more were the 16 essays at the end, further explaining some of the stories and the act of their creation. Asimov gives us his views on the possible robot uses and their implementation in various departments of our community in general.

[Emely Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did not expect the founding figure of robot fiction to never have depicted robots as gaining/having the cliche hostile attitude to humans (his characters always seem to find the public's fear of robots－the so-called frankenstein complex－annoying). It was a refreshing read and Asimov's prose is right up my alley: concise and easy but not unsophisticated.

fav stories: evidence and the bicennial man
least fav: lenny

really loved byerley, calvin, and the mike-greg duo

[Cloak88 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turns out Isaac Asimov is an interesting author with interesting stories.... Who new?!

Robot Visions is a collection of Asimov's work accompanied with a number of essays and personal notes from the author himself. As expected from an SF giant with dozens of stories under his belt, this is a good collection. Not all of the stories hit home for me personally, but most of them were really good.

The selection itself spans Asimov's entire career and mainly concern his 'Robot' stories rather than his 'Foundation' novels. Each of these stories tackles a different issue or theme and looks into the unique aspects of "The three laws of Robotics".

In summary this is a very good collection and of interest to any SF fan who isn't already acquainted with Asimov's Robot Sort Stories

[Drew Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did this author really envision artificial intelligence before even having or without knowing what the internet would be? Some of it is accurate enough that I forget the story wasn't written recently and some of it comes across as absurd. Realizing that these are a collection of short stories, that might excuse some of the rough story development. The idea is apparently to give rise to some scenario. ie, the three laws of robotics are good but are obviously just an outline. (interesting reading this after animal farm where we can see the consequences of some small manipulations of laws). Then it is up to others to take these into consideration when implementing and making real robots. The author wants the credit for the three laws but not the blame ;)