"Runnaround" by Isaac Aimov and the Significance of the Three Laws of Robotics in today's world (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, , language: English, abstract: The short story Runaround by Isaac Asimov is an example of older literature that encourages thinking ahead by showing challenges of future generations. Especially the handling of robots, subject in many of Asimov's stories, has gained importance over the years. His fictional ideas even affected the development of future technologies.

In his short stories Asimov stated prognoses and envisioned a world of robotics that have partially come true. He imagined how technologies might work and how people would interact. Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics are still highly regarded and taken into account when it comes to moral conflicts in the field of robotics. This talent of writing interesting and at the same time conclusive stories made him one of the most popular science fiction authors of the world.

This paper deals with Asimov's intention and the evaluation of a short story which contains the Three Laws of Robotics, being an example for an important contribution to the science fictional way of thinking. Critic comments on Asimov's laws, an alternative set of rules and the development of robotics are the basis of the analysis. In this seminar paper, I am going to join the discussion on robotic development, the moral issues and the justification of the Three Laws of Robotics.