Asimov Realized - Robot Rules for 2006

Technovelgy.com's Bill Christensen mentions in a recent article that Japan is creating a set of safety guidlines for the new generation of Robots that are being created, very similar to those written by science fiction writer and guru Issac Asimov:

A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

They're also talking about safety "off" buttons, which might come in handy when your little tin buddy decides he would rather have you take out the garbage instead of him. I suppose that now that there are robots that are actually walking around and have an ability to do physical actions, the whole I, Robot concept of an electronic dude being as psychotic and neurotic as say...oh, I dunno...a HUMAN, might be a little scary.



I think it's so interesting that I am living in a time when the books that I read as a child are coming true to a degree. The tv shows, too. We've got little Spock-phones (what I first called flip-phone cell phones when they first came out) from Star Trek; we've got video conferencing from Blade Runner and Outland; and we've got Robots - which you can give lots of credit to Asimov, but let's not forget Phillip K. Dick, and - God, are there any Sci-Fi writers worth a crap that haven't at least written about artificial intelligence to some degree?

But, I digress.

I think it's amazing that I can sit back and watch the evolution of technology, that has made leaps and bounds, the same way people marveled at electricity, the telephone, cars, and airplanes.

Pretty fantastic.