Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics

Guidelines for Ethical Uses of Robots in Society (Suggested in 1940)

AITopics > Robots | Ethical & Social | Individuals > Asimov's Three Laws

The three laws are

• 1. A robot may not harm a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
• 2. A robot must obey the 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.

Asimov later added a 'zeroth' law

• 0: A robot may not injure humanity, or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.

Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics (actually it's three plus a 'zeroth law') courtesy of the Robotics Research Group at the University of Texas at Austin. Good overview.

Why Asimov's three laws of robotics are unethical, by Aaron Sloman. (27 Jul 2006).

Ethics dilemma in killer bots. By Philip Argy (National President of the Australian Computer Society). Australian IT (January 16, 2007). "When science fiction writer Isaac Asimov developed his Three Laws of Robotics back in 1940, the first law was: 'A robot may not harm a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.' Asimov later amended the laws to put the needs of humanity as a whole above those of a single individual, but his intention was unchanged: that robots should be designed to protect human life and should be incapable of endangering it. So reports out of Korea of newly developed guard robots capable of firing autonomously on human targets are raising concerns about their potential uses. ... Ethicists have always questioned the use of technology in weapons development, but the new robots are causing additional disquiet because of their self-directing capabilities. ... It is the responsibility of all technology professionals to ensure that those in our organisation and within our influence are both responsible and ethical in the way they develop and apply technology."

Offline Readings

Clarke, Roger. 1994. Asimov's Laws for Robotics: Implications for Information Technology. Parts 1 and 2. Computer(December 1993 (pp. 53-61), and January 1994 (pp. 57-65).