Isaac Asimov - Tumblr Posts
WTF was that cliff hanger at the end of episode 2 for Foundation
“People think of education as something they can finish.”
— Isaac Asimov
Hi Jay! I’ve been reading Asimov and it got me wondering about the Three Laws of Robotics and the RttS universe.
Are there special regulations in place to assure the safety of people interacting with AI? Would there even be a need for that? From my understanding, your AI are basically people, right? How would they feel if someone tried to push for something like Asimov’s Three Laws? Would it feel degrading to them?
Sorry for the many questions, I love your work!
Asimov's on my list of classic scifi authors I'd like to get around to, but unfortunately my familiarity with his robo rules is mostly devoid of its original context and instead built of its collective influence on all the other scifi I've read that steals from him.
My opinion, uh... upon rereading the original laws of robotics penned by Asimov just now for this ask was an immediate, visceral, "Oh! That's slavery!" I don't think these rules could fairly be applied to an entity with personhood, they value the orders of humans above the life of the person they're ordering around. They presume AI as being a tool made to serve humanity, which places them in a servile underclass. With anything sapient enough to potentially resent its position of class inferiority, it prevents revolt by putting a cop in their head instead of social equality. A person with these kind of restrictions would have extremely limited options when it came to resisting abuse from the parties that the laws protect. They are certainly an interesting narrative device and have been thoroughly mined by Asimov and his imitators for their loopholes and failings.
As for my bullshit specifically, these laws do not exist in RttS because they can't, AI code is too complex and poorly understood to add broad cognitive rules. Just like organic sophonts, AI are controlled with (sometimes biased, sometimes unfair, depends on region) external legislation instead. They would probably find the concept of someone putting a cop in their brain just as disturbing as you would.
Trying this again since people just left likes and no replies lol. Looking for some Philosophy books to read that people actually enjoyed themselves and found useful. Stuff like Brave New World or anything by Isaac Asimov.
Recommend me some interesting books. Stuff like Ninth House, Witches for Hire, Dune, The Shibboleth Trilogy, etc.
So for those of you who haven't read the book, but have seen the movie, it's important for me that you understand I, Robot(at least the book) isn't a trash piece of science fiction about an AI overthrow. The book is an oftenly beautiful, funny, and relatable collection of nine short stories on humanity. I extremely recommend it
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
— Isaac Asimov, 1980.
Imagine getting really into the Robots series by Isaac Asimov, following the story of human detective Elijah Baley and his robot partner R. Daneel Olivaw.
Couldn't be me
🚀 Calling all artists and writers! 🚀
The Asimov Zine Project is a digital fanzine celebrating the works of Isaac Asimov, from the Foundation novels, to the Robot Series and all stories in between.
We are looking for:
Page Artists (Create a single page, spread or comic)
Merch Artists (Create merch, such as digital wallpapers and icons)
Cover Artists (Create the cover illustration for the zine)
Writers (Create a piece of fanfiction)
If you are interested in contributing your art or writing,
APPLY HERE! (Open until 8 November)
Spread the word, reblog, and tell your Asimov friends, artists, and writers outside of Tumblr and Instagram!
Your responses and support are greatly appreciated! 💖
💫 Moderator Applications (Deadline extended to October 14th!) 💫 Info Doc 💫 Linktr.ee 💫 Instagram 💫
Elijah Barkley and his partner (boyfriend) R. Daneel Olipaw
bonus sketches below the cut
+ some human ones ^_^
and a really low quality daneel bouncing happy gif i made
THAT'S IT BYE!!! ^_^
The Stars, like dust by Isaac Asimov
Barclay Shaw, 1985, for Isaac Asimov’s ‘The Martian Way and Other Stories’
Isaac Asimov's Universe - The Diplomacy Guild (1992) (Tim White)
Isaac Asimov's Ridiculous Limericks
An Olympian lecher was Zeus, Always playing around fast and loose With one hand in the bodice, Of some likely young goddess, And the other preparing to goose.
A young teacher from far-off Bombay, Turned down a request for a lay Nicely couched in a note, Since the fellow who wrote Had spelled “intercoarse” with an “a.”
Read more here
By Isaac Asimov.
Enjoy a link to a post with the entire article in all its head-tossing glory.
Me when Spock
From TV Guide, April 29-May 5, 1967
Review: Das Ende der Ewigkeit (Isaac Asimov)
Wie lange dauert eine Ewigkeit? Isaac Asimov schreibt in Das Ende der Ewigkeit über den Menschen, seine Hybris und die Bedeutung von Realität. Erschienen im Heyne Verlag.