Status Updates From I, Robot (Robot, #0.1)

+Donovan/Powell dynamic duo OAT
+short & engaging
+seamless writing
+Reason and Evidence, my two standouts
+refreshing despite not being current by any means
-honestly, not much detracting in this book but if I have to pick, the final story was more pedantic than entertaining

5*

They were seamlessly written between stories and how is this is nearly 70+ years old and still hold up! Wow, he coined the word robotics. Engaging even without “action” (space battles etc)

Def a must-read for sci-fi fans or robots in general. Asimov clearly put a lot of care to think of not just possible problems but also solutions and alternatives with a sprinkling of our ever-so-subtle innate ways we are human.

Not what I expected, but pleasantly surprised. These short stories became increasingly more difficult to “solve” and despite failsafes, humans (mostly experts) express fear… but! Looking further, there was always a logical answer to actions and the laws weren't actually broken. I really enjoyed the stories as they show humans and robots advancing together and, in contrast, just how different creator and created are.

This chapter talked about the possibility of a robot able to go against the First Law of Robotics, which protects humans from harm. This chapter was overall pretty confusing. I thought they represented stressed-out humans pretty well. The main lady in charge of the issue in this chapter was kind of annoying, thinking she was in the right all the time, even though she was, the book conveyed personality well.

At a speech a man comes up to him and demands to be hit. He hits him. Dr. Calvin visits and says there is one instance in which that would happen, if the other man was also a robot. She leaves saying she will vote for him, she thinks a robot mayor would be good mayor. 5 years later he becomes world coordinator when world is divided into quarters, each w a rep

Politician is a robot! At least that’s what his political rival claims. Byerly has never eaten in public, doesn’t sleep etc. The robot psychologist Dr. Calvin is called in. He eats her apple. She says she cannot prove he is a robot but can prove he is not a robot. He would have to break the laws of robotics which would make him a bad human; lives w mentor in wheelchair (likely the real Byerly

They go thru interspace travel and feel dead, overstimulated and hear sermons of Hellfire. They die. Then come back to life. When they return, the brain was at an impasse at the thought of human harm but when told to disregard it, it allowed this temporary death. They return the brain back to rival company out of spite

Rival company’s brain malfunctions, they are tasked with finding out why

They let the brain build a ship for interstellar travel even tho it didn’t find a dilemma in humans being harmed

Donovan and Powell are back, baby! To test the ship of course and guess what the brain just sent them off! No engines nor pilot chair and just beans and milk for them. Oh, poor Donovan lol