Editing Three Laws of Robotics (section)

===The Three Laws in film===
[[Robby the Robot]] in ''[[Forbidden Planet]]'' (1956) has a hierarchical command structure which keeps him from harming humans, even when ordered to do so, as such orders cause a conflict and lock-up very much in the manner of Asimov's robots. Robby is one of the first cinematic depictions of a robot with internal safeguards put in place in this fashion. Asimov was delighted with Robby and noted that Robby appeared to be programmed to follow his Three Laws.

[[Image:Bicentennial-man-three-laws.jpg|thumb|NDR-114 explaining the Three Laws]]
Isaac Asimov's works have been adapted for cinema several times with varying degrees of critical and commercial success. Some of the more notable attempts have involved his "Robot" stories, including the Three Laws. 

The film ''[[Bicentennial Man (film)|Bicentennial Man]]'' (1999) features [[Robin Williams]] as the Three Laws robot NDR-114 (the serial number is partially a reference to [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s [[CRM 114 (device)|signature numeral]]). Williams recites the Three Laws to his employers, the Martin family, aided by a holographic projection. The film only loosely follows the original story.

[[Harlan Ellison]]'s proposed screenplay for ''[[I, Robot (film)|I, Robot]]'' began by introducing the Three Laws, and issues growing from the Three Laws form a large part of the screenplay's plot development. Due to various complications in the Hollywood moviemaking system, to which Ellison's introduction devotes much invective, his screenplay was never filmed.<ref>{{cite book| last=Ellison| first=Harlan| title=I, Robot: The illustrated screenplay| publisher=Aspect| year=1994| isbn=978-0-446-67062-3}}</ref>

In the 1986 movie [[Aliens (film)|''Aliens'']], after the android [[List of Alien characters|Bishop]] accidentally cuts himself, he attempts to reassure [[Ellen Ripley|Ripley]] by stating that: "It is impossible for me to harm or by omission of action, allow to be harmed, a human being".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090605/quotes|title=Aliens (1986) – Memorable quotes|publisher=IMDb.com|access-date=2015-03-28|archive-date=2024-09-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240925011518/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090605/quotes/|url-status=live}}</ref> 

The plot of the film released in 2004 under the name, ''[[I, Robot (film)|I, Robot]]'' is "suggested by" Asimov's robot fiction stories<ref>"Suggested by" Isaac Asimov's robot stories—two stops removed from "based on" and "inspired by", the credit implies something scribbled on a bar napkin—[[Alex Proyas]]' science-fiction thriller ''I, Robot'' sprinkles Asimov's ideas like seasoning on a giant bucket of popcorn. [...] Asimov's simple and seemingly foolproof Laws of Robotics, designed to protect human beings and robots alike from harm, are subject to loopholes that the author loved to exploit. After all, much of humanity agrees in principle to abide by the [[Ten Commandments]], but [[free will]], circumstance, and contradictory impulses can find wiggle room in even the most unambiguous decree. Whenever ''I, Robot'' pauses between action beats, Proyas captures some of the excitement of movies like ''[[The Matrix]]'', ''[[Minority Report (film)|Minority Report]]'', and ''[[A.I. (film)|A.I.]]'', all of which proved that philosophy and social commentary could be smuggled into spectacle. Had the film been based on Asimov's stories, rather than merely "suggested by" them, Proyas might have achieved the intellectual heft missing from his stylish 1998 [[cult film|cult]] favorite ''[[Dark City (1998 film)|Dark City]].''
{{cite web
 |last=Tobias
 |first=Scott
 |publisher=[[The Onion|The Onion A.V. Club]]
 |url=http://avclub.com/content/node/17881
 |title=review of I, Robot
 |date=20 July 2004
 |access-date=2006-06-12
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051109221729/http://avclub.com/content/node/17881
 |archive-date=9 November 2005
}}
</ref>
and advertising for the film included a trailer featuring the Three Laws followed by the [[aphorism]], "Rules were made to be broken". The film opens with a recitation of the Three Laws and explores the implications of the [[#Zeroth Law added|Zeroth Law]] as a logical extrapolation. The major conflict of the film comes from a computer artificial intelligence reaching the conclusion that humanity is incapable of taking care of itself.<ref name="BBCIrobot">{{cite news |title=A fresh prince in a robot's world |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3533118.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=11 November 2010 |first=Stephen |last=Dowling |date=4 August 2004 |archive-date=25 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240925011518/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3533118.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The 2019 Netflix original series ''[[Better than Us]]'' includes the 3 laws in the opening of episode 1.