Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics - The Handbook of Robotics, 56th edition, 2058 appeared in Isaac Asimov's novel I, Robot. These rules dictate the programming behavior of a robot as it interacts with its human masters. They are: 1) A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; 2) A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders conflict with the First Law; and 3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. On the sci-fi series STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION/SYN/1987-94, the android Data (Brent Spiner) built by Cyberneticist Noonien Soong was encoded with these concepts first postulated in the 20th century by Dr. Isaac Asimov. (Episode No. 14 "Datalore").

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"I, Robot"

TRIVIA NOTE: Sinister Psi Corps cop Mr. Bester (Walter Koenig) on the sci-fi series BABYLON 5/SYN/1994-98 psychically infiltrated the mind of security officer Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) and programmed him to betray his friends and fellow officers. When Garibaldi attempted revenge on Bester, he couldn't pull the trigger of his PPG firearm because Bester had placed a telepathic neural mind block (an "Asimov") that prevented Garibaldi "directly or indirectly" from harming Bester, now matter how much he hated him.