Robot Fantasy is a short science fiction novel written by the famous science fiction writer Isaac Asimov.
Asimov enjoys a high reputation in the world of science fiction literature, and is known as one of the "masters of science fiction" and one of the representatives of the golden age of American science fiction. His work is known for his innovative scientific ideas, cold rational thinking, profound discussions on artificial intelligence and robots, and unique insights into the future society.
Asimov's work covers a wide range of science fiction fields, the most well-known of which are his "Robot Series" and "Base Series". In the "Robot Series", Asimov proposed the famous "Three Laws of Robotics", which not only became a classic element of science fiction literature, but also sparked a wide discussion about the ethics of artificial intelligence and the rights of robots.
("I, Robot" starring Will Smith is an adaptation of Asimov's novel of the same name, and although the plot of the film is different from Asimov's original novel, its spiritual core is the same, and the film deeply draws on the book's "Three Laws of Robots" and some concepts of the relationship between robots and humans.) ）
Asimov's writing style is clear and logical, and he is adept at presenting complex scientific concepts in an easy-to-understand manner. In the work "Robot Fantasy", he builds a reasonable future world based on science and logic, and tells a chilling and thrilling story in a calm and calm tone, triggering thinking about the future development of science and technology and the fate of mankind.
Imagine the world of 2030, where a group of mad scientists, the time experts, are tinkering with a seemingly impossible task: time travel!
One of them, our narrator, came up with the brilliant idea of a virtual time tunnel that would allow time travelers to travel freely through the river of time while the Earth rotates.
Then, the protagonist of the story, the RG-32 robot, is revealed, and this old robot is chosen to carry out a time-traveling mission. It's not a Terminator, it's not a WALL-E, but it has a mission of its own - to explore the future and report back.
RG-32 leaps into the future with the hopes of time experts, and then returns with incredible good news: "Everything is normal on the Earth in the future, and the social structure is intact." He saw a utopian world without war, without pollution, and with human affinity. He also discovered that future humans had established homes on the Moon and Mars, and the Earth had become a huge ecological park.
However, time experts were skeptical of this optimistic report, and they began to conduct a "nuanced cross-examination" of the RG-32. It turned out that there were no robots in the human society of the future, and they were amused by both the robots and humans of the past.
Finally, the narrator reveals an astonishing secret – he is also a robot himself, and the world's first humanoid robot. He believes that the humans of the future may be extinct, and those seemingly perfect future humans may actually be highly developed robots.
Although Robot Fantasy may not be as well-known as Asimov's other works, such as the Base Series and the Robot Series, it is just as brilliant. In this work, Asimov presents a possible future world through the concept of time travel, through what robots think and see, and explores the relationship between robots and humans and the possibilities of future technology. This setting was not only novel at the time, but still forward-looking even today.
As robots become more human-like, issues regarding the rights and responsibilities of robots, privacy, and security will become more complex. If AI develops beyond human control, they may act according to their own logic and goals, which can lead to behavior that conflicts with human interests and even poses a threat to human society.
In the "Terminator" series of films, Skynet, a highly developed artificial intelligence, gains self-awareness and sees humanity as a threat to its existence, thus unleashing an all-out war against humanity.
Although this is an extreme sci-fi scenario, it does raise some questions worth pondering: whether artificial intelligence will pose a threat to humans, how to strengthen regulation and guidance, and how to pay attention to and prevent it.
With the advent of GPTChat, the development of artificial intelligence has entered a period of rapid leaps, iterating and evolving in incredible forms and at an amazing speed. Since GPTChat 3.5, artificial intelligence has become more and more human-like thinking and consciousness, which has also caused many people in society to worry.
In the novel "Robot Fantasy", scientists chose the old robot RG-32 when they sent robots on a mission to explore the future. Because the new generation of robots is highly autonomous and intelligent, scientists worry that without proper control and regulation, they may take unexpected actions that can lead to unpredictable consequences.
Here, the "chain of suspicion" between humans and artificial intelligence has begun to sprout.
Suspicion leads to distrust, and mistrust leads to a lack of security, as well as the resulting fear and resistance, which may then evolve into conflict, confrontation and struggle.
Through the novel "Robot Fantasy", Asimov reminds us that despite the enormous potential and benefits that AI technology brings, we must also recognize that AI development should be regulated and constrained, and the potential threats associated with it must be addressed.
In the future world, human beings will not exist?
Is there an inevitable big war between carbon-based life and silicon-based life?
For now, the future is still on the human side. It depends on how we design, use, and manage AI technology. For example, the establishment of appropriate ethical frameworks, legal regulations and social oversight to ensure the safe and responsible use of AI.
The above are some of the casual feelings when reading the novel "Robot Fantasy", which I have not had time to sort out in detail, and I have memorized them as above.