Assignment 1: Robbie
Due: 8:10am, Wednesday, September 2.
Value: 60 pts.
After reading the short story Robbie
in I, Robot,
write a short (2-3 pages) essay that includes answers to these
questions:
- Based on your everyday experience of technology, does Robbie seem
to you like it could be built today?
- Select three features of Robbie. For each feature, assess whether
you believe that feature could be built today. Describe evidence to
back up your claims. Relate these assessments to your answer to the
previous question.
- Do you think the author intends to portray Robbie as a simple
automaton, mindlessly following its programming, or as a self-aware
sentient being like you or I? Why?
- The story was written in 1940, so 1998 seemed far in the future
at the time. Briefly state at least one technological device in
the story that existed by 1998, and at least one device (other than
Robbie!) that does not yet exist.