Having just bought this yesterday, and also having read quite a few Isaac Asmiov’s books, primarily the foundation series and a few others, I was already familiar with his works, very intelligently written and well articulated science fiction. Isaac Asimov is perhaps one of the most prolific authors of the 20th century, having published hundreds of books articles & Short stories, I am also familiar with his non fiction, a man based in science with an excellent understanding of relevant themes.
“i, Robot” is in part narrated as an interview between a journalist and a robo psychologist, head of her department in the largest organisation that manufacture robots, it deals with the initial creation of Robots, their impact on society how they are received etc, In effect it is the history of mankind and its use of robots, culminating in a society run by Robot brains, where most decisions are taken away from mankind and simply followed as orders from the Robot over minds, recognized as being of benefit to society due to the inherent programming of all Robots, primarily to be unable to cause harm to humans or humanity.
A dated book now with progress not being anywhere near the level the books describe as having been achieved at a set time, the science is now obsolete, although not known in the 50s/60’s when this was written, and was sheer speculation as to the technology that would exist at present. The book however is still pertinent… the psycho social implications are still pretty spot on, theoretically. The author was definitely not against a machine thinking for humanity, towards the end reading as a somewhat utopian outcome, where the needs of humanity were carefully calculated by superior brains, without corruption and self interest.
A very interesting book, still worth reading. If you love old science fiction, this one does not dissapoint. As long as you ignore the lapses in the projected technological advances to our current times, the books delves into human/robot psyche and may be relevant when robot technology exists… in the form described by Asimov.
I did compare the movie that came out a few years ago starring Will Smith… don’t think the book is anything like the Movie, the latter being a waste of time (apart from its entertainment value) and only providing 5% of the books content. Read the book, certain parts will make you think 🙂 and that’s never a bad thing.
The writing was fairly simplistic and easily accessible, I enjoyed the novel, and would recommend to any Sci Fi fan.