Several of the stories feature the character of Dr. Susan Calvin, chief robopsychologist at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc., the major manufacturer of robots. Upon their publication in this collection, Asimov wrote a framing sequence presenting the stories as Calvin's reminiscences during an interview with her about her life's work, chiefly concerned with aberrant behaviour of robots, and the use of "robopsychology" to sort them out.
The book also contains the short story in which Asimov's famous Three Laws of Robotics first appear. Other characters that appear in these short stories are Powell and Donovan, a field-testing team which locates flaws in USRMM's prototype models.
The collection's title is the same as a short story written by Eando Binder, but is not connected to it. Asimov wanted to call his collection Mind and Iron, and initially objected when the publisher changed the title.
Contents
1I, Robot
2Contents
3Release details
4Adaptations
5Allusions/references from other works
6Notes
7References
I, Robot
The following appeared on the back cover of I, Robot (paperback edition):
To you, a robot is just a robot. But you haven't worked with them. You don't know them. They're a cleaner, better breed than we are.
When Earth is ruled by master-machines... when robots are more human than humankind.
Isaac Asimov's unforgettable, spine-chilling vision of the future - available at last in its first paperback edition.
This is largely inaccurate. The first line is a quotation from one of the book's recurring characters Dr. Susan Calvin, but the rest is incongruous with the themes that Asimov presents in his stories. At the time of the collection's publication, robots were depicted in science fiction as either servile machines or evil creations that revolted in the manner of Frankenstein's monster. Asimov himself said that in writing the Robot stories he sought to replace both views with something more rational.
In the late 1970s, Warner Brothers acquired the option to make a film based on the book, but no screenplay was ever accepted. The most notable attempt was one by Harlan Ellison, who collaborated with Asimov himself to create a version which captured the spirit of the original. Asimov is quoted as saying that this screenplay would lead to "the first really adult, complex, worthwhile science fiction movie ever made." Although the film was never made, the script eventually appeared in book form under the title I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay, in 1994 (reprinted 2004, ISBN 0-7434-8659-5). Although acclaimed by critics, the screenplay is generally considered to have been unfilmable based upon the technology and average film budgets of the time.
More recently, a film called I, Robot starring Will Smith, was released by Twentieth Century Fox on July 16, 2004 in the United States. It was criticized by some fans of Asimov's work for departing from the source material.
A real-life company called iRobot manufactures industrial robots and a robotic vacuum cleaner for home use.
The well-known real-life modem manufacturer named U.S. Robotics has the name coined in Asimov's robot series as a robot manufacturer.
The animated seriesThe Simpsons had an episode in its fifteenth season entitled "I, D'oh-Bot", in which Homer and Bart compete in a Robot Wars-type competition. Asimov's Three Laws came into play at the end, when one of the robots discovers Homer in the battlefield.
The episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation titled "I, Borg" was named after and conceptually based on the I, Robot stories. The episode was about a Borg Drone that was separated from the Borg Collective, and how it learns how to become an individual.
The satirical newspaper The Onion published an article entitled "I, Rowboat" [1] in which an anthropomorphized rowboat gives a speech parodying much of the angst experienced by robots in Asimov's fiction, including a statement of the "Three Laws of Rowboatics":
A Rowboat may not immerse a human being or, through lack of flotation, allow a human to come to harm.
A Rowboat must obey all commands and steering input given by its human Rower, except where such input would conflict with the First Law.
A Rowboat must preserve its own flotation as long as such preservation does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
In The TV show Aqua Teen Hunger Force, an episode is called I, Rabbot. It does not relate to the stories, however.
The familiar nickname of "K-bot" given to Australian skiier Michelle Kaunitz was reportedly derived from some friends seeing a TV advertisement for the Will Smith film I, Robot while teasing her about her enormous energy levels back at the ski-lodge. The nickname was initially "K, Robot" but was quickly shortened to the now familiar name of "K-bot."
The bonus song on Coheed and Cambria's first album, The Second Stage Turbine Blade, is named "IRO-Bot." In the story on which all of Coheed and Cambria's songs are based, IRO-Bots are not actually robots, but androids which are virtually indiscernible from humans and who have super-human abilities.
Chalker, Jack L.; Mark Owings (1998). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd., 299.
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