2026 JUL: I, Robot by Isaac Asimov > Likes and Comments
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I will be back on board for this one in July. Been v time poor of late with my own projects. I'm curious to compare the vernacular and future vision with PKD's Ubik written 20 years later.For example, I wonder how many cigarettes (if any) get smoked in I-Robot and what technology he gets amusingly wrong - or perhaps terrifyingly right. I enjoyed the movie too, so that's another reference point to compare, which adds a couple of additional dimensions to reading this 1950s icon for me.
See y'all then!
You can alway start early. Just use spoiler tags when you share if needed.
This was written in 1950, and seems to be set in 2067. They suggest the whole solar system is now settled with a population of 3 billion. It’s be hard to guess I suppose. The global population was 2.5 billion in 1950 when this book was published. Today, the global population is about 8.3 billion. Walter Greiling predicted in the 1950s that the population would peak around 9 billion in the 21st century. Now forecasts estimate a peak around 10 or 11 billion in 2080.
Past predictions of the future have sharply diverged from reality, at once amusingly and terrifyingly! They expose some curious things.The 1970s TV series - 'Space 1999' set on the Moon as it blasted off into an unplanned interstellar journey, was a personal favourite of mine - I loved that show as a kid! Full of adventurous hopefulness.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch - in 2026 we are struggling to replicate what the USA achieved in 1969 - over 50 years ago! Let alone have a base on there of any kind! Never mind one that may sustain an interstellar journey! The Moon may as well be made of cheese!
One common thread of almost all prior space sci fi, is the galactic capacity humanity has for hubris. From Star Wars to Star Trek and Guardians of the Galaxy, humans are piloting the star fighters and pointing the weapons systems at each other - as if a species capable of lightspeed travel had simultaneously failed to come up with a software + hardware combo that could react faster than a human strapped into the amusingly named 'cockpit'! It seems a necessary ubiquitous assumption that 'we' will remain 'top dog' and masters of our own creations. Such hubris can surely only be measured in lightyears.
Far from heroically hyper-driving into a laser cannon dog fight against the Klingons, we are heading towards some messed up fusion of Huxley's 'Brave New World', Orwell's '1984' and Cameron's 'Terminator' - with a dash of 'The Matrix' thrown in. A place where numbed-out humans are maintained, controlled and / or destroyed at algorithmic will, by some higher force or other for purposes beyond our meat puppet grasp.
There probably is still a way to build something sustainably dynamic, free and fun, that involves exciting Artemis moon bases and the like - but it almost certainly requires a co-ordinated multinational effort and good will between peoples of all kinds to achieve such a thing in the face of AI and emerging autonomous drone warfare...
I reckon the doomsday preppers are looking around, getting in that extra pallet of baked beans they'd been meaning too, and feeling pretty smug.
Lets see what I-Robot has to contribute to all of this.
I’m 90% in on this one … and thought I’d start chipping away at a review.
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (1950)
Pages: 224 | Rated: 4.21 | Ratings: 385K
I, Robot is ranked 9th at the moment on the Best Science Fiction Ever Written list and 12th on the Best Science Fiction list. These lists must be taken with more than a grain of salt, but what better source are we to use for rough rankings? Seriously. If you have a better ranking … I’d like to know. Is it a top 10 science fiction book of all time? Is it worthy of its high 4.21 rating? Is it a good book?
First, let’s clarify that the book and the 2004 movie starring Will Smith by the same name are not the same story, and have very little bearing on one another. If you saw the movie and rated this book without reading it, or voted for it on a list, then let’s be clear … you are… a piece of work. I have zero tolerance for that on a book site. I am fine with talking about the movie or differences—but let’s focus on the book.
The plot is basically a series of short stories about the history of robots with artificial intelligence. The framing device is a reporter interviewing an old engineer who started in the field in its infancy and is now about to retire at about 80 years old. She recounts the milestones, chronologically, of different robot models as they reached new scientific firsts over time. Each story presents a new dilemma of sorts where the latest robot design of the day came up against a challenge adhering to their prime directives.
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The book arrived today. Shipping out from the UK was (for some reason) the optimal route to get a copy to Australia and took just over a week. I will get into it an contribute shortly.
I had imagined the book had some connection to the movie, as the movie, I thought anyway, was pretty bloody good! Which is often a sign of being anchored to an original literary work, with all the depth of characters and plot nuances that are required to hold attention in the unforgiving format of the written word.
I've got my audiobook ears on and it starts tomorrow! I'm looking forward to this one. I've read all of the Foundation series and enjoyed the adaptation of Foundation on Apple. So I'm not surprised to hear the I, Robot film is different. Reading Foundation there was a lot of chewy bits. Still, Asimov made no money on Foundation and I believe this robot series brought in the cash for him. I'm excited to discover how much his writing and storytelling has improved. (That's what happens to every writer the more they write.)
Helena wrote: "I've got my audiobook ears on and it starts tomorrow! I'm looking forward to this one. I've read all of the Foundation series and enjoyed the adaptation of Foundation on Apple. So I'm not surprised..."Yes! So far I'm enjoying this. Scott Brick's narration is great. I'm about 2.5 hours into the 8.2 hours audiobook. Easy and entertaining so far.
Oh boy. I’m really struggling to get into it thus far. Either the start is very dry, or I am more tired than usual. I seem to only manage a couple of pages before my nose bisects the book spine, I dump it on the nightstand, and slip gratefully into the welcoming arms of Morpheus.Still plenty of time though.
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (1950)
Pages: 224 | Rated: 4.21 | Ratings: 385K
Why? Early classic on humans contending with robots and AI.
Publisher’s Summary
Isaac Asimov's I, Robot launches readers on an adventure into a not-so-distant future where man and machine , struggle to redefinelife, love, and consciousness—and where the stakes are nothing less than survival. Filled with unforgettable characters, mind-bending speculation, and nonstop action, I, Robot is a powerful reading experience from one of the master storytellers of our time.
I, ROBOT
They mustn't harm a human being, they must obey human orders, and they must protect their own existence...but only so long as that doesn't violate rules one and two. With these Three Laws of Robotics, humanity embarked on perhaps its greatest adventure: the invention of the first positronic man. It was a bold new era of evolution that would open up enormous possibilities—and unforeseen risks. For the scientists who invented the earliest robots weren't content that their creations should ' remain programmed helpers, companions, and semisentient worker-machines. And soon the robots themselves; aware of their own intelligence, power, and humanity, aren't either.
As humans and robots struggle to survive together—and sometimes against each other—on earth and in space, the future of both hangs in the balance. Human men and women confront robots gone mad, telepathic robots, robot politicians, and vast robotic intelligences that may already secretly control the world. And both are asking the same questions: What is human? And is humanity obsolete?
In l, Robot Isaac Asimov changes forever our perception of robots, and human beings and updates the timeless myth of man's dream to play god. with all its rewards—and terrors.
--front flap