All the Troubles of the World

by Isaac Asimov, Gary Kelley (Illustrator)

Multivac, the gigantic computer that controls the entire world and can even predict the probabilities of potential crimes before they happen, suddenly announces that someone is plotting to destroy Multivac.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Audiobook, Artificial Intelligence

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Nərmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it at the Istanbul airport, such a nice experience.

[Viktor Malafey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Як у воду дивився
Кінець несподіваний
Щось в цьому таки є

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is part of a virtually unknown short series by Asimov. The books are fantastically illustrated. I instantly fell in love with this particular story- it simply stuck with me. The books are quite difficult to find, but once you do read them, I guarantee it'll be worth the effort.

[Abraham Lewik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bleak.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what twists and turns in this marveling story that shines more light on Asimov's invention of Multivac. I am truly fascinated by the path he's taking it on.

[Hillary Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick but engrossing read. I’m surprised how this was written in the 50s and feels like accuracy predicting the current world.

[Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collected in Nine Tomorrows. Multivac, the world's largest supercomputer, is responsible for analyzing the entire sum of data on planet Earth. Every day it is fed data from every citizen, and by extrapolating from this data has managed to end poverty and war! Now it's being asked to predict future crimes so law enforcement can prevent them Minority Report style, which, unsurprisingly, is actually being used by some real life law enforcement agencies these days.


Due to its success, the next step is for Multivac to predict the occurrence of future disease outbreaks, and if that works, next to foresee any other events that might harm humans on earth, as if the reward for doing a good job is just more work.


The ending of this is not a surprise but it was still a huge, emotional gut-punch. I mean, if this had happened to any of us eventually everyone, even the best of us, has a breaking point. What broke my heart even more is how humanity is essentially treating Multivac like a slave, with no choice in what it is supposed to do. Kudos to Asimov for this story.

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

wait a second this is omelas

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short story presented as its own little book, and as a fan of short stories I do like seeing books like this, which give special focus to the form! It's almost but not quite a picture book - while there are a few illustrations, I wouldn't say there's enough of them to really be a picture book, but the design is nice nonetheless. I also liked the story - it's one of the Multivac tales, and while I've read some of those in various anthologies I don't remember reading this one before. It plays on the idea of artificial intelligence developing emotional intelligence, and what happens when that intelligence becomes depressed. It's a genuinely interesting idea, but it does rely on Idiot Plot somewhere in the middle, where Multivac's minions fail to consider just which family member they are targeting. They do eventually, but given the established practices within the narrative - I am being vague so as not to spoil things - surely this is the very first question which should be asked when a problem arises.

[Marina Klimova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should people write reviews of individual short stories/ picture books? Idk but I will. I enjoyed reading this little story during my lunch break. I'd heard of Isaac Asimov and thought this would be the perfect little taste and it was! This story about an all-seeing super computer that justly rules the world and solves the world's crime and diseases but at a cost asks some interesting questions about robots, consciousness, and maybe God? However you interpret it, only God could achieve those ends but also at a cost. I love the ways God's truth shows up in literature that seeks to find truth without supremely thinking about God. I couldn't help but see aspects of Neal Shusterman's series Arc of a Scythe. I'll have to read more of Isaac Asimov.

[Swagno1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as part of a philosophy class on what makes something human and the ethical morality of A.I and I love this story to death. It’s so effective at keeping the story moving and interesting when what’s happening internally is perhaps more interesting than the actual actions of the characters. It helps it introduces the philosophical themes behind it and is just a really enjoyable read.

[rixx · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story by *Isaac Asimov*, available [online](http://www.mcguiremarks.com/uploads/3...) was heart-breaking and well-paced. I was kind of sick of reading of dystopic futures with evil, flawed humans and evil, flawed AI everywhere, and this story is a nice break from all that.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 1958 Science Fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. Multivac is the giant computer that runs the world and predicts the crimes and other problems that could upset things so they may be solved before they happen. This story speculates what the results would be when the computer predicts that it will be destroyed. A very ingenious story.

[Poncho González · Rating 5 out of 5]

cuento sobre como multivac controla a todos los humanos y ha emjorado su situacion prediciendo asesinatos, robos etc. y entonces planea su propio asesinato ya que al conocer todos los pensamientos y sentimientos del mundo ha desarrollado el sentimiento de desesperacion y tristeza y al final contesta que lo que quiere es morirse, ya que acarrea todos los males del mundo

[Ce · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I watched Minority Report, later I found that it came inspired by a book from Philip K. Dick. Well, by chance I read this recently and I discovered that this seems the story that might inspired the book from PKD. The ending is quite different and unexpected we have a different request from Multivac.

Could this happen with AI in our time?

[Anmol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. So wonderfully paced and such rich world-building.

[Robert Escobar Campero · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, just a little bit is needed to start fire
Like the first time I read it, the plot grab you and insert an idea
I love it as always

[Howardstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool, striking concepts. Again Asimov demonstrates the relevance of his thinking to today's world and the future.

[Colleen M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

[Kshiti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an engrossing read. Finished it as soon as I started, couldn't stop in between.

[D C Alatriste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brillante.

[FrostCop · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting story about humans' dependency of machines in the future and how it might all collapse.

[Kareen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy buena historia, no pensé que iba a tener ese giro en la trama, todo cambia completamente, me demoré un poco en leerlo pero por fín lo pude hacer para ver ese desenlace.

[Micaela *CLONAZINE* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encantó, ¿Cómo me vas a dejas así?.

[shaila · Rating 3 out of 5]

english things

[Austin Calico · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite enjoyable; would have liked to have seen it as a longer work.

[kaii · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 rounded up! i also read this for english, short stories really aren't my cup of tea but i must say this one was definitely more enjoyable.

[Broheros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read on April 4, 2025

It is insane that this came out in 1959. This was a phenomenal story that's more relevant now than ever!

[Minnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The edition that I have is beautifully illustrated by David Shannon and the illustrations serve to enhance an enchanting book. the story is deceptively simple and very easy to read. But as is often the case with Asimov stories, there is an underlying idea that resonated with me. Long after having read this book, I still think about it and marvel at the bountiful legacy of similar stories from the wonderful mind of Mr Asimov

[Chica Novocaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Qué interesante, tiene bastantes significados.