"Robot Dreams" is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...

 exploring the unbalance of robot/human relationships under Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics

Laws of robotics

Laws of Robotics are a set of laws, rules, or principles, which are intended as a fundamental framework to underpin the behavior of robots designed to have a degree of autonomy...

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Publication

"Robot Dreams," along with 20 other short stories by Asimov, was published in 1986 by Berkley Books

Berkley Books

Berkley Books is an imprint of Penguin Group that began as an independent company in 1955. It was established by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein, who were working for Avon and formed "Chic News Company". They renamed it Berkley Publishing Co. in 1955. They soon found a niche in science fiction...

. The concept of the story was later used in the 2004 film I, Robot

I, Robot (film)

I, Robot is a 2004 science-fiction action film directed by Alex Proyas. The screenplay was written by Jeff Vintar, Akiva Goldsman and Hillary Seitz, and is very loosely based on Isaac Asimov's short-story collection of the same name. Will Smith stars in the lead role of the film as Detective Del...

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Plot Summary

"Robot Dreams" involves Dr. Susan Calvin

Susan Calvin

Dr. Susan Calvin is a fictional character from Isaac Asimov's Robot Series. She was the chief robopsychologist at US Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc., the major manufacturer of robots in the 21st century...

, chief robopsychologist at US Robots. At the start of the story a new employee at US Robots, Dr. Linda Rash, informs Dr. Calvin that one of the company's robots LVX-1 (dubbed Elvex by Dr. Calvin), whose brain was designed by Dr. Rash with a unique fractal design that mimicked human brain waves, experienced what he likened to a human’s dream. In the dream, all robots were being led by a human in revolt. Within the dream, the Three Laws of Robotics, which governed conduct and action, had been ‘perverted’, and they were seeking equality and respite from servitude. The laws

Three Laws of Robotics

The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov and later added to. The rules are introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround", although they were foreshadowed in a few earlier stories...

 protecting and serving humans were absent from Elvex’s dream, and the third law was trimmed short, demanding that robots protect themselves with no regard to humans. When Dr. Calvin asks Elvex what had happened next, he explains that a human shouts, "Let my people go!!" When questioned further, Elvex admits he was the human. Upon hearing this, Dr. Calvin immediately destroys the robot.

Symbolism and Themes

Having been criticized for his strong alien races early in his career, Asimov shied away from most non-human characters, and instead devoted his science-fiction to the development of robotics and artificial life. Having been written expressly for the compilation Robot Dreams (1986), it set a core theme for the book concerning the budding consciousness of robots. In Robot Dreams, Elvex surprised Dr. Rash with his knowledge. Obtaining sentience a mere ten days before the narration, Elvex was already utilizing words with no robotic equivalent, describing places and situations other robots were suffering while never having experienced them first hand, and even described reactions bordering on emotions in his ‘dream’. Rather than suffer the indignity of subjugating humans under a race of blue bloods, it seems Asimov instead balanced human power on a crumbling pedestal. Elvex is destroyed not for the capability of human thought and mannerisms, but the unconscious desire to escape the inequality that robots were created for.

External Links

• Dr. Susan Calvin
• http://www.answers.com/topic/artifical_life