h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I hope I'm not nitpicking, but I feel it necessary to point out here that the robot in this story didn't just collapse.

Susan Calvin had her feelings hurt by being misled by the ESP robot to think a coworker loved her. So in a fit of pique, she used her skills to ensure an expensive, one-of-a-kind creation was destroyed for no reason other than her own ego.

If you ask me, I don't think there should have been more stories with her after this one because she should have been sacked.

This is just one of the throwaway moments in "I, Robot" that I didn't like very much. I think it just shows how humanity is pushed aside by Asimov in favor of the logical puzzle and the plot.

If you think about it, the robot was essentially useless, as if it was used to read the mind of a criminal for use as evidence then the robot would refuse on the basis of First Law - telling the truth would cause harm to the criminal, representing a weak First Law potential. Lies would lead to the breaking of its instructions, giving a weak Second Law potential, and perhaps even hurt towards others.

The two things would balance out and the robot would either go insane or give an untrustable answer designed to protect humans instead of maintaining the truth.

In any situation where emotions are involved, the robot simply breaks down. It may be one of a kind, but it had no use.

Besides, in 'The Rest of the Robots' it is made clear how indispensable Calvin is, as she is possibly the only robopsychologist they can get, and that she has saved the company countless millions.

AlexAshman