Film Review: I Robot (2004)

The film I, Robot revolves around the robotic worlds and the manner in which they can serve the humanity. In the year 2035, the humanoids robots, in this case, the major plot technologies help the understanding in line with the three laws of Robotics. A Chicago police detective by the name Del Spooner hates and distrusts the robots, based on the fact that one of them salvaged him from a car accident but failed to rescue a 12-year old girl because it believed that her survival was statistically less likely compared to his.

As observed, the science and technologies used as plot devices in the movie do not substantially portray compatibility with the laws of the universe. The movie plot is simple-minded and disappointing. The chase and action scenes as depicted are mainly routine for movies in the sci-fi CGI genre. The robots seem not to possess the heft and weight of the actual metallic machines and consequently make disgusting villains. The laws of the heft and mass of the objects posit that the acceleration depends upon the force applied as well as the objects mass.

In the film, the actions of robots are guided by three laws. First, a robot may not induce injury to the human being or through the different means to subject an individual to injury. Second, it has to obey the commands given by human beings, except where such orders conflict with the first law. Finally, these technologies must protect their existence provided that those rules do not conflict with the first two laws. In reality, human beings have the ability to program the robotic technologies and devices in the manner that suits them. Ironically, the concepts used in the film are not compatible with those observed in the laws which govern the characteristics of living organisms. In the movie, Calvin and his colleagues are attacked in the office by the NS-5 robot, which is the latest model of USR. In the same way, Spooner is subjected to an attack by the USR demolition robotic device in his attempts of pursuing his investigation of the death of Lanning. Contrary to this fact, the robots in the film are compatible with the laws of the universe, particularly those that are related to the characteristics of living organisms. As for the robots, they operate like the giant insects, the Starship Troopers as targeted by the video games.

Ethics of Robotic Technologies

The development of robotic technologies is on the increase. Fundamentally, robots are built and designed with the aim of performing various tasks such as the intelligence, in addition to replacing human beings in handling the activities in different sectors. A major ethical issue surrounding the development of robots and robotic devices is that whether or not they should be allowed to conduct their own moral decisions. Undeniably, researchers across the world have succeeded in creating machine-learning robots and teach them how to respond to various situations with the aim of arriving at different ethical outcomes. However, robots are designed by human beings who are prone to making mistakes and errors. In this case, it is hard to determine whether an activity or assignment done by the robot will be morally right and performed regarding the international humanitarian laws.