From Asimov’s Imagination to Our Reality: The Wild, Wondrous Journey of AI Tools
Chapter 1: The Dreamer with the Typewriter Long before Siri misunderstood your voice command or ChatGPT helped you with a breakup text, there was Isaac Asimov . A Russian-born American writer and biochemistry professor, Asimov wasn’t just playing with robots in his stories—he was trying to define the rules of a future no one else could quite see yet. In 1942, he wrote a short story titled “Runaround” , where he introduced the now-famous Three Laws of Robotics : A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given by humans, unless it conflicts with the first law. A robot must protect its own existence, unless doing so conflicts with the first two laws. Sounds simple, right? But Asimov didn’t stop there. His stories explored the moral and emotional complications of machines that could think. Could they lie to protect a human? Could they feel fear? Could they dr...