I, Robot

De: Isaac Asimov

Narrado por: Scott Brick

This classic science fiction masterwork by Isaac Asimov weaves stories about robots, humanity, and the deep questions of existence into a novel of shocking intelligence and heart.

“A must-read for science-fiction buffs and literature enjoyers alike.”—The Guardian

I, Robot, the first and most widely read book in Asimov’s Robot series, forever changed the world’s perception of artificial intelligence. Here are stories of robots gone mad, of mind-reading robots, and robots with a sense of humor. Of robot politicians, and robots who secretly run the world—all told with the dramatic blend of science fact and science fiction that has become Asimov’s trademark.

The Three Laws of Robotics:
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 to 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.

With these three, simple directives, Isaac Asimov formulated the laws governing robots’ behavior. In I, Robot, Asimov chronicles the development of the robot from its primitive origins in the present to its ultimate perfection in the not-so-distant future—a future in which humanity itself may be rendered obsolete.

“Tremendously exciting and entertaining . . . Asimov dramatizes an interesting question: How can we live with machines that, generation by generation, grow more intelligent than their creators and not eventually clash with our own invention?”—The Chicago Tribune

©1950, 1977 Isaac Asimov (P)2004 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

No wonder he revolutionized robot sci-fi

This book is the epicenter of robot science fiction. The depth and complexity of politics, sociology, and science of a robotic future is amazingly put together. When we think of this kind of future, IA captured it with genious!

What if? As man makes machines, who serves whom.

So for starters, remove Will Smith and references to the movie from the cover. While entertaining, I really liked the movie, it is only loosely based on the book. Read I, Robot to explore the many scenarios; ethical, moral, financial, social and political, that occur having robots that serve humanity. But then, what does that service mean. How do you resolve "do no harm to a human or allow harm through inaction", the 1st law of robotics.

Free Willy

lots of insights and information that would never fit into the movie. wonderfully done and read.

Not the movie - IT'S BETTER

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. Nearly all my friends have seen the completely unrelated (though still entertaining, don't get me wrong) Will Smith movie. And we enjoyed it because the concept of artificially intelligent robots has always been interesting to us. Anyone who enjoyed the movie because of that concept, would find this book at least as interesting, if not more so, and you owe it to yourself to check it out.

What did you like best about this story?

Many things...Too many things. I will try to narrow it down. The first thing would be that it's complex and contains an incredible amount of world-building without becoming monotonous. It attempts to offer technical reasoning (though sometimes flawed...I don't know if I'd consider this hard SciFi...) as part of this without resorting to incomprehensible technobabble and while still remaining accessible.
The second thing I enjoyed is the surprising variety in the moods of these short stories. There is a heartwarming story, one containing heartbreak, many containing mysteries, and much more. There are several - particularly the Powell and Donovan stories - that cleverly juxtapose comedic moments with serious contemplation about life and death and existence - all without becoming preachy.
One thing I enjoyed that I was very surprised about is how ahead of its time this book is in certain ways. While most of the values and gender norms present in the story are dated by today's standards, I did find it impressive that one of the protagonists - Susan Calvin - of the story is an intelligent, technically-minded level-headed, yet refreshingly flawed and balanced human being of a woman. I understand that being published in the 50s, Susan would be a very rare type of female character. She's a type of character that a lot of modern, mainstream sci fi still has trouble putting front and center today. I'll admit there is a bit of values dissonance that cropped up for me when her desires, priorities, and possible regrets were examined (I don't want to delve into them for fear of potential spoilers), but I think just the very inclusion of a female field expert of this caliber is fairly progressive for its day and is worth analyzing and examining.

Which character – as performed by Scott Brick – was your favorite?

It's hard to say which was my favorite, although I appreciated his performance of Susan Calvin the most. Often, narrators tend to exaggerate the voices of women characters by using a higher/frantic tone or something near a falsetto, making them sound ridiculous and cartoonish. Given the kind of personality she has - clever, cool, logical - that would have been a crying shame and it would have definitely made the story less enjoyable. His performance of her adequately conveyed the type of character she is though. It was satisfactory.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Ok...I'm one of those people who enjoyed the movie and finally became curious about the source material. I had heard of Isaac Asimov but I'd never read anything by him.
Long story short, I was really surprised that the book had absolutely nothing to do with the movie. Not even close.
But it was better in my opinion. Much better. Maybe I'm biased because I have a weakness for stories with robots that have personalities, but I absolutely loved this book. It's a roller coaster of feelings if you immerse yourself in it. There's a little bit of everything, heartwarming things, heartbreak, contemplation of the nature of existence, even some comedic moments. And the thing is every feeling is so real and genuine. The characters are all unique and engaging and you'll want to keep engaging with them. And working in software, I found it funny because I see these same traits in myself and the people I work with.
Also, there is an incredible amount of worldbuilding in this book. Actually it's amazing because a lot of times, authors either focus disproportionately on world building or characters, but Asimov does an excellent job of constructing the future and its history while you explore it through the eyes of lifelike characters, developing both at the same time.

Any additional comments?

The Powell and Donovan stories were the highlight for me, I'm not going to lie. They're a somewhat mismatched pair of colleagues who find themselves in terrible situations and bicker a lot, but still care about each other in end - and I love that dynamic. And that juxtaposed with robots questioning the nature of their own existence, being logical to an unnerving fault, and more? Fabulous. If there was a TV show about these two, I would watch every last season.

Still holding up after all these years.

Don't let the Wil Smith cover mislead you. If the author was still alive, he should sue Mr Smith for putting his face on his book, which has nothing to do with the movie except there are robots in both.

As for the short stories themselves, I find them to be quite in interesting except for the last one. As a whole they paint a future of how robots rise to power to their eventual takeover of the world.

The narrator does a pretty good job in portraying the different characters, I would certainly keep an eye for her other works.

I would definitely recommend this book to readers of all ages. Anyone who likes sci-fi. should not miss out!

Wonderful Science Fiction

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the interesting psychological concepts that Isaac Asimov off put forward. The situational dilemmas put against the laws of robotics generated very engaging arguments, and interesting solutions. I found the book to the intellectually engaging and wanted to listen to it any free moment that I had. The main topic of the book, humans interacting with robots, I felt was a very good projection by the author. For being written almost 60 years ago. I see the issues presented in the book as something we will have to deal with in the relatively near future. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in intellectual sci-fi novels.

a true sci fi classic

One of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. A classic. Still relevant and interesting today. Nicely narrated.

Absolute classic

I Have to hope that the folks working on AI take the three Laws to heart! Otherwise we are well and truly screwed.

good

As an audio book, it fares pretty good. Not like the movie though.

A Classic, well performed.

I have always loved the philosophical ideals of this story collection. The outstanding narration fleshes this out to a great listening experience.