How far we are from the Three Laws of Robotics?

Daniel Cruz Tllez

September 19, 2016

Abstract

The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of rules created by one of the most well known Sci- writers, Isaac Asimov.
In his literature this laws are the main axis in the robots' behavior. The Three Laws, quoted as being from the
"Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D.", are:
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 the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conict with the
First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conict with the First or
Second Laws.
As it was said, this laws comes from Sci- literature, but everyday our developments in robotics and articial
intelligence take us nearer than ever to a possible interaction with smart machines in our daily lives and maybe
this laws in some point in the future must become real.
But, are we ready for create machines smarter than us? How much time could take create a robot clever
enough to understand the Three laws of Robotics? Do we really need this laws? In this brief reection some
aspects about these questions, concepts, paradoxes and technical creation of the Three Laws of robotics will be
discussed.
It will be briey analysed the Three Laws of robotics in Asimov's literature and the possibilities of implementation of this laws in future robotics. Another point to discuss will be the cultural implications in the
relation between humans and machines, the psychological behaviour of people when they interact with manlike
machines, even the religious implications of the development of articial intelligence, which could cause the
creation of an alternative laws of robotics. And by the end it will answered our rst question: How far we are
from the Three Laws of Robotics ?

Figure 1:

I, Robot - Isaac Asimov