The Frankenstein Complex and Asimov's Three Laws

Abstract

Public fear will be the biggest hurdle for intelligent robots to overcome. Understanding society’s long-standing fear of self-aware automatons should be a consideration within robotics labs, especially those specializing in fully autonomous humanoid robots. Isaac Asimov anticipated this fear and proposed the Three Laws of Robotics as a way to mollify it somewhat. This paper explores the “Frankenstein Complex ” and current opinions from noted robotics researchers regarding the possible implementation of Asimov’s Laws. It is clear from these unscientific responses why the Three Laws are impractical from a general sense even though the ethical issues involved are at the forefront of researchers ’ minds. The onus is, therefore, placed on the roboticists of today and the future to hold themselves to a standard similar to the Hippocratic Oath that preserves the spirit of Asimov’s Laws.