I just wanted to point out that Star Trek did the rogue AI thing a year earlier, the 1967 episode with Nomad was basically “kill all unworthy lifeforms.” Probably rooted in post-war anxieties, maybe even echoes of the Holocaust. But nevertheless, an AI bent on a mission, unable to question its original directive.
Then came HAL 9000 in 1968 , cold, calculating, and quietly terrifying. Still creeps me out!
But credit where it’s due , Asimov laid the groundwork for ethical AI way back in the 1940s with his Three Laws. That’s hard to beat.
Different styles, different fears, but all compelling visions of futures we’re creeping toward or not. I'm rooting for the latter.
I doubt that was the first such story.
[0]: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/29579/29579-h/29579-h.htm
> Asimov laid the groundwork for ethical AI way back in the 1940s with his Three Laws.
His robot stories constantly highlight the difficulties related to alignment. How the 3 laws always have unintended consequences. So they write the 0th, add a 4th, remove the 3rd, and other such things.
I loved them as a kid because they highlighted how immense complexity hides in plain sight. It always looked like magic, and that's what made me so interested in science in the first place. To start unraveling these hidden complexities that lay all around us.
If anything, I think Asimov was trying to encourage us to start thinking about these tough questions. To bring them to wider audiences. Because frankly, many of the answers will not be possible to answer in a lab, but need be answered through a society.
I believe Asimov did set the groundwork, not with perfect laws, but by showing how their flaws exposed the real complexities that sparked important conversations.
He didn’t give us answers, he got us asking better questions. That’s what makes his work still resonate.
I like Asimov but I also think he's treated with a reverence he doesn't deserve.
I'm not calling him a god or anything. But I don't think it's surprising that someone that writes stories includes philosophy into it. I really don't think it's surprising a PhD educated writer is thinking about not that complicated of things.
The concept of understanding the limitations of your metrics and measures is a pretty basic science skill. Using this as a driver of some of his plots doesn't seem surprising. It's something he was doing in his daily life.
Forgive me if thinking of him as at least a university professor is reverence.
Colossus: The Forbin Project from 1970 is right inline with this, and it does not end well. A good watch if you like older computing tech, remastered 2160p versions now exist, too.
What is the name of the book about a young American Indian boy whose grows up in the the of Indian culture being wiped our. His parents are killed and he becomes a bull rider, has many injuries, goes back home to find peace in nature where he grew up?
The machine stops
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/e-m-forster/short-fiction/...
Human technical aspirations I believe go all the way back.
It was pretty clear back then that computing and electronics were on a very fast trajectory to more or less where we ended up.
I only did a cursory search, but seems like by 1970, IBM was worth nearly a billion dollars. It was a pretty safe bet.
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Heinlein was shockingly thorough and accurate with his depictions of the computer systems in play. I've always thought the build-up to the final battle was incredibly detailed and exactly how I would solve those problems today.
The book was written in 1966, and I think it really holds up to modern technical scrutiny, except for a few very specific and very obsolete technologies.
Honestly I just love this story. It has all the charm of a quaint midcentury story, but is still technically competent and compelling to a modern reader. I don't think any of his other stories pull this off quite so well.
Mike is a major plot point in The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. He never actually appears though. Not sure I'd recommend that book honestly. He went real heavy on inserting his personal politics, to the point of standing up strawman characters just to give the main character a communist to berate and harass. It really ruined the experience for me.
I have just now learned that there's a sequel to The Cat, To Sail Beyond the Sunset. The Wikipedia summary sounds.... really bad, but Mike has at least a few lines so I guess I'll go read it now.