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Robots as ‘The Other’ and Reconfiguration of Humanism : Re-reading Isaac Asimov’s novel Robots and Empire(1985)

  • International Journal of Glocal Language and Literary Studies(약칭: IGLL)
  • Abbr : IGLL
  • 2023, (15), pp.31~59
  • DOI : 10.23073/riks.2023..15.002
  • Publisher : Glocal Institute of Language and Literary Studies(GILLS)
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : November 25, 2023
  • Accepted : December 20, 2023
  • Published : December 31, 2023

Chang, Jun-young 1

1중앙대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

As artificial intelligencetechnology rapidly advances, ethical concerns regarding the coexistence of AIrobots and humans has been debated by many debaters. In the process, the question of theroles and ethics of robots and their place among humans has always been a topic of discussion. Isaac Asimov, the Americansciencefictionwriter proposed ‘theThreeLaws ofRobotics’, which encompassthe principles of robot behavior and their use. The inherent contradictions and ethics whitin the Three Laws of Robotics have been continuously questioned by the author himself and his readers. Among Asimov’s works, “Robots and Empire”, the final novel out of the ‘Robot series’, draws attention by adding a “Zeroth Law” to the Three Laws of Robotics, which encompasses the categorization of ‘Humanity’, emotions, andmemory. In this article, the varioustypes ofrobots appearing in “Robots andEmpire” are classified as ‘robots as tools(generalrobots left on planet Solaria and thesupervisorrobot ‘Landaree’)’, ‘robot deriving the Zeroth Law through self-reasoning(Daneel)’, and ‘telepathic robot with empathy and memory(Giskard)’. By analyzing each of these robot types, this article tracks how Asimov reconfigures the existing humanism based on discrimination and hierarchism through the figure of the robot as ‘the other’. In Chapter 2, the supervisor robot on the planet Solaria is analyzed. Robots in Solaria do not resist the Three Laws of Robotics, but they categorize ‘humans’ and ‘non-humans’ based on intonation, leading to attack against them-Spacers, Solarians, and migrants(Earthlings). In Chapter 3, this articlefocuses on the highly sophisticated robot, Daneel, whosereasoning ability is so advanced that it formulates a new principle, the Zeroth Law, based on its rationality. In Chapter 4, this articleexamines theempathy and memory capabilities of Giskard, the only telepathic robot in the story, to re-examinetheissues ofethics and emotions ofrobots. This article aims to re-evaluate classic sciencefictionworksthat havelong sparked discussions aboutthe advancement of artificial intelligence technology froma post-humanismperspective.

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This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.
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