The Truth About Killer Robots

Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov was the first person to imagine laws for robots. In his 1942 short story "Runaround," set in the middle of the 21st century, he laid down the first law, which states: "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." Now we're catching up to Asimov's future and his number one law is already being tested. Filmmaker Maxim Pozdorovkin charts the emerging cases where robots have caused the deaths of humans: in an automated Volkswagen factory, in a self-driving Tesla vehicle, and from a bomb-carrying droid used by Dallas police. Each case raises questions of accountability, legality, and morality but they are typically shrouded in cover-ups or treated as freak anomalies. Pozdorovkin makes the case that we need to pay more attention. He explores provocative viewpoints from engineers, journalists, philosophers, and, through archival footage, Asimov himself.