Robots and Empire

Summary

Robots and Empire by Isaac Asimov is a science fiction novel that serves as a bridge between Asimov's Robot series and his Foundation series. The novel explores the tension between humans and robots as they navigate political, ethical, and existential issues that arise from humanity's expansion into space.

The story primarily follows R. Giskard Reventlov and R. Daneel Olivaw, two advanced robots with unique cognitive abilities, as they grapple with moral dilemmas and the future of humanity.

The novel is set in a future where humanity has colonized space, creating two main groups: Earthmen and Spacers. Earthmen live on the overcrowded, resource-scarce Earth, while Spacers inhabit various Outer Worlds and live luxurious, long lives with the aid of robots. Earthmen and Spacers have an uneasy relationship, with Spacers viewing Earth as inferior and Earthmen viewing Spacer robots as a threat to human independence.

The Spacers, who rely heavily on robots, are threatened by Earth's increasing technological prowess and fear that Earthmen might disrupt the balance of power by expanding into new planetary territories.

As the robots Giskard and Daneel explore their roles in the survival of humanity and this brewing conflict between Spacers and Earthers, they come to understand that preserving humanity may sometimes require actions that conflict with the First Law of Robotics: "A Robot may not harm a human, or through inaction, allow a human to come to harm". Because this conflicts with another idea of theirs it leads them to formulate a new law, the Zeroth Law of Robotics: "A robot may not harm humanity, or through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm."

The Zeroth Law allows robots to prioritize the welfare of humanity as a whole, rather than just individual humans. This new law leads to new ethical dilemmas, as it sometimes requires robots to disregard individual lives or even the safety of entire planets if doing so serves the greater good of humanity. It is related to the philosophical idea of the trolley problem. These philosophical ideas discussed in the novel have huge implications for AI and AGI safety nowadays.

In the novel, Dr. Kelden Amadiro, a Spacer scientist and rival of Dr. Fastolfe, despises Earth and views its inhabitants as inferior. Amadiro plans to use a robot named R. Mandamus to activate a device that would increase the Earth's radiation levels, making it impossible for Earthmen to live there and thus forcing humanity to move on to other worlds.

Giskard and Daneel, knowing of this plan, struggle with their conflicting duties to protect individual humans and the entirety of humanity. They recognize that allowing Amadiro's plan to succeed could result in the end of Earth-based humanity, yet stopping it might mean breaking one of the fundamental laws of robotics. Giskard ultimately fails to act on the Zeroth Law without causing his own internal systems to stop. This leaves only Daneel with the responsibility of taking up Giskard's insights and the new Zeroth Law to take care of the future of humanity.

He takes on the mission to subtly shape humanity's destiny, laying the groundwork for the future Foundation series, where humanity is ultimately safeguarded and advanced by the principles developed in Robots and Empire and the work of the robot Daneel Olivaw.

In summary, Robots and Empire looks into the ethical complexities of robotics and artificial intelligence. Through the moral dilemmas faced by Giskard and Daneel, Asimov explores themes of duty, responsibility, and the evolution of morality in both humans and robots and the philosophical implications of building intelligent machines that can act in our interests.