Language And Communication - I, Robot Theme Of Language And Communication | I, Robot by Isaac Asimov- Summary, Themes & Characters - Novels PDF Download

In I, Robot, there are several ways to communicate, but sometimes language leads to miscommunication. For instance, Robbie can't talk and has to communicate through body language (making a "C" in the air when he wants to hear "Cinderella"). Similarly, to communicate that he's a man, Byerley also uses body language (that is, he hits a guy). And when people do talk, we find that speech can sometimes be ambiguous or misinterpreted. So, for instance, Nestor-10 hides because he was told to get lost, which leads to a big problem for Calvin. Language can be useful to communicate, but sometimes doesn't work perfectly.

Questions About Language and Communication

1. We notice that body language is used to communicate, but are there other forms of communication besides language?
2. While some people are worried about robots from the beginning, Calvin notes that real opposition begins when US Robots starts making talking, walking robots (Robbie.225). Why do you think people would oppose robots that could talk and walk?
3. How do different technologies affect the way people communicate? Would these stories be different if the characters had our technology of communication (i.e., cellphones, the internet)?
4. Robots can learn slang and are affected by the tones that people use. How does it affect our reading when robots are so sensitive to human speech?

Chew on This

Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.

I, Robot traces the evolution of robots from Robbie to the Machines. One way that robots grow is that they become better and more human in their speech, from non-speaking Robbie to cold-voiced Cutie to warm-voiced Dave, and on.

Robots are sensitive to speech, which explains why Susan Calvin is often so cold and frigid—to avoid giving them orders that she doesn't mean to give.