The Caves of Steel
Author: Isaac Asimov
“A
robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being
to come to harm.”
How lucidly the ‘First Law of Robotics’ sums up the
hopes that the scientific community has for the future of Artificial
Intelligence! Indeed, it is this one phrase, written, unbelievably, by the
Father of Robotics over half a century ago, that defines the association of man
with machine in a manner that secures the progress of both.
Yet, when order reaches unsustainable levels, chaos is
bound to ensue once again. Teleport yourselves to the Earth of the 22nd
century à Asimov, and I am sure you will rasp with suffocation as you find
yourself caved in, away from everything natural, stranded on the ‘Caves of
Steel’.
Yet, everything seems to be eerily perfect. The Cities
(with a capital C, mind) are hollows of comfort, unfazed by the blazing
sunshine or the natural touch of the Outdoors. Food is synthetic, and humidity
and temperature control, as well as water supply, streamlined with machine-like
precision. This, however, is order in the larger chaos- Earth, infested with
scores of diseases and writhing with overpopulation, is the least powerful
planet in the Universe, and the least desirable.
Why the comparison, though? The answer is simple: the
human race has expanded to colonize planets several parsecs away (with the
development of interstellar transport), known as the Outer Worlds. The Outer
Worlds are, at a glance, truly sublime. Take Aurora for instance, with its
modern robots, some even ‘humaniform’ (humanoid) serving a population one
hundredth that of the Earth, or Solaria, with its robot-to-human ration of
ten-thousand is to one. If that isn’t luxury, then what is?
There is no doubt, then, as to the fact that if you
were a human being on Earth- an Earthman- you would resent their way of life
overwhelmingly while trapped in the conundrum of your own. Your resentment may
well take you deeper into your Caves of Steel- despising the machine that has
created a deep divide between the intellectuals (the Spacers) and the
bureaucrats (the Earthmen). So while Artificial Intelligence has progressed by
leaps and bounds, it has spread outwards, into space, while Earthmen themselves
fight it for all they’re worth.
All this makes for a ‘rich get richer, poor get poorer’
situation. The Earth will refuse to adopt Artificial Intelligence, move away
from its earlier natural way of life, and remain trapped in an intermediate
situation, an impermeable Cave of Steel. The Outer Worlds will sanitize themselves,
stay away from Earthly germs, and make steady technological progress while
achieving remarkable life-spans.
Unless- of course- something drastic happens, and it
very well does. Space-Town, the Outer-World department on the Earth, is the hub
of a colonization program that aims to increase the A.I. populace and direct
more human beings outwards into space. When a Spacer ambassador- roboticist Dr.
Sarton, is found murdered, Spacer-Earthmen relations are on the brink of
collapse, and so is detective Elijah Baley’s job. Things get worse when Baley
finds himself teamed up with a Spacer partner- a robot, Daneel Olivaw, for the
investigation.
It is, then, an experiment for an Earthman to set his
differences aside and accept a robot for his virtues. Meanwhile, a sinister
group of Medievalists, Earthmen living in the Earth of the past, natural and
exposed, are conspiring to put an end to the Space-Town programme and take
things in the polar opposite direction. The murder seems to be a symbol of the
friction between the Medievalists and Spacers, and it is up to Baley, exploring
the extremes of robotic capacity, defiance and obedience as well as human
ingenuity and insanity, to crack the plot.
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