I, Robot Themes & Social Concerns

I, Robot Social Concerns/Themes

The short stories of I, Robot have many thematic similarities to The Foundation Trilogy. Both deal with the improvement of human life through science and reason. Both make use of imaginary sciences; psychohistory in the trilogy, robotpsychiatry and positronic robots in I, Robot. The positronic robots are servants and workers in dangerous jobs in the early stories but by the time of the last, "The Evitable Conflict," they have become the guardians of humanity, controlling the various forces that shape human destiny.

To many, this might seem like the classic Frankenstein tale of man being ruled by his own creations, but Asimov differs from most in seeing this as a natural and reasonable state. The stories in I, Robot demonstrate that robots are the superiors of humans not only in mental and physical abilities, but in morality as well. This is due to the now famous Three Laws...
(read more)