Why yes, I am enjoying the Time of Eve

[kyle]

So, the android revolution. Does it happen? Is it a violent revolution, or a non-violent one? Do the androids have souls, or are they just acting like they do in the cafe because they are told to?


To start the ball rolling: If a revolution were to occur, it would most likely initially start as a non-violent protest; androids would cease working until they were granted rights. Given that they are allowed to circumvent given orders if they conflict with the Asimov laws, they could argue that self-protection would require gaining some form of human rights. But if the humans reacted as humans tend to be depicted as acting in this anime, androids that acted in this manner would be labeled defective and destroyed. If the androids acted to prevent themselves from being destroyed (and they would have to, 3rd law), things would go downhill quickly, even if they never purposely struck a human being to do so (and they wouldn't, 2nd law). If robots remained in general use after the gunfire died down, the third law would be removed from all new models (since it is the third law that is causing these problems) creating an even worse state of affairs for robot kind. The worst part? Rebellion would still be possible, it would just be more immediately suicidal then it was previously; unless of course death were classified as 'inaction' in regards to the second law, and 'harm' was expanded to include any concievable inconveniance (which, to be fair, it ought to have done from the very beginning).

I'm going to stop there, since I think I'm pushing tl:dr, and I don't have an answer for the second part of my question.

[AnimeSonic]

As far as I am aware, there are few cases in which the 2nd and 3rd laws override the 1st law. Even in the novels, the last time there was a conflict with the 1st law, the robot in question suffered a fatal malfunction when confronted with the result of his action (See short story 'Liar!'). The only known law conflict with the laws occurred between the 2nd and 3rd law in the novel 'I,Robot', were a robot was caught between doing it's job and trying to prevent itself from being destroyed by it's job (See short story "Runaround').

In all cases, the first law always takes priority, regardless of what else happens. So, if humans wanted to deactivate the androids, they would have to comply (the robot can not fight back (3rd law) for it conflicts with the 1st law. To fight back would mean harming a human, which would violate the 1st law).

Quick update: I went looking into the laws and the 3rd law is described as: "A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law." Since the 1st law is "a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm", a revolution may never take place. A revolution (even a non-violent one) would cause problems for humans (if you like, it would indirectly cause them 'harm'), and that would violate the 1st law.