I, Robot is a classic science fiction book in the sense that it takes some technology that doesn't exist and asks, "what would life be like if we did have this?" The big technology in I, Robot is robots, of course (not "I," which would be hilarious—"we've invented the first person pronoun! Oh no, it's attacking us!"); but there are also little glimmers throughout the book of new technology and the ways that people have adapted to that technology or not adapted. For instance, instead of cars we have "gyros"—but marriage and family life is still what it was in the 1940s. Asimov is interested in some technologies and not in others.
Questions About Technology and Modernization
- Are robots different from other forms of technology in these stories? Or do these robots differ from technology in our real lives?
- Does the book take a stand on technology and modernization? Is it always presented as a good thing? Or what makes technology good or bad?
- How do different characters deal with technological progress? Does the book provide a full range of responses to technology?
- Besides robots, what other technologies does Asimov invent for this book? Are there any patterns to his invented technologies? (For instance, does he seem most interested in weapons or in forms of communication or transportation or medicine?)
Chew on This
I, Robot presents us with a very positive view of technological progress, both through the stories and through the dialogue of characters we trust.
I, Robot is unconvincing as a defense of robotics because, while each story resolves an issue, each story shows us how robots could go wrong.