Three Laws of Robotics

E201014

concept in science fiction set of fictional laws

The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of fictional ethical rules devised by Isaac Asimov to govern the behavior of intelligent robots and prevent them from harming humans.

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All labels observed (13)

Label	Occurrences
Three Laws of Robotics canonical	68
First Law of Robotics	4
Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics	2
Second Law of Robotics	2
Asimov's Laws of Robotics	1
Asimov's Robot universe	1
Asimov’s laws of robotics	1
Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics	1
The Laws of Robotics (essay)	1
Third Law of Robotics	1
Three Laws of Robotics (as modified by the Zeroth Law)	1
Three Laws of Robotics (in his robot designs)	1
Zeroth Law of Robotics	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1799511 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Three Laws of Robotics
Context triple: [I, Robot, centralConcept, Three Laws of Robotics]

A. I, Robot
I, Robot is a seminal science fiction short story collection by Isaac Asimov that explores the ethical and logical implications of advanced robotics and the famous Three Laws of Robotics.
B. Clarke's three laws
Clarke's three laws are a set of aphorisms about science and technology, most famously stating that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
C. The Robots of Dawn
The Robots of Dawn is a science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov that continues the adventures of detective Elijah Baley as he investigates a high-stakes robotic "murder" on the Spacer world of Aurora, further developing Asimov’s robot universe and the Three Laws of Robotics.
D. Robots and Empire
Robots and Empire is a science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov that bridges his Robot and Foundation series, exploring the long-term consequences of human–robot relations and the origins of key galactic events.
E. The Rest of the Robots
The Rest of the Robots is a science fiction short story collection by Isaac Asimov that gathers many of his classic robot tales exploring the implications of the Three Laws of Robotics.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Three Laws of Robotics
Target entity description: The Three Laws of Robotics are a set of fictional ethical rules devised by Isaac Asimov to govern the behavior of intelligent robots and prevent them from harming humans.

A. I, Robot
I, Robot is a seminal science fiction short story collection by Isaac Asimov that explores the ethical and logical implications of advanced robotics and the famous Three Laws of Robotics.
B. Clarke's three laws
Clarke's three laws are a set of aphorisms about science and technology, most famously stating that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
C. The Robots of Dawn
The Robots of Dawn is a science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov that continues the adventures of detective Elijah Baley as he investigates a high-stakes robotic "murder" on the Spacer world of Aurora, further developing Asimov’s robot universe and the Three Laws of Robotics.
D. Robots and Empire
Robots and Empire is a science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov that bridges his Robot and Foundation series, exploring the long-term consequences of human–robot relations and the origins of key galactic events.
E. The Rest of the Robots
The Rest of the Robots is a science fiction short story collection by Isaac Asimov that gathers many of his classic robot tales exploring the implications of the Three Laws of Robotics.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	concept in science fiction ⓘ set of fictional laws ⓘ
appliesTo	intelligent robots ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
creator	Isaac Asimov ⓘ
describedAs	fictional ethical rules for robots ⓘ
describedBySource	Asimov’s essays on robotics ⓘ linked to: I, Robot
fictionalUniverse	Asimov’s Foundation universe ⓘ linked to: Asimov universe Asimov’s Robot universe ⓘ linked to: Asimov's positronic robot universe
fieldOfWork	ethics ⓘ robotics ⓘ
follows	hierarchical priority structure ⓘ
genre	science fiction ⓘ
hasCulturalImpact	referenced in academic literature on machine ethics ⓘ referenced in discussions of real-world AI design ⓘ referenced in films about robots ⓘ referenced in television series about robots ⓘ referenced in video games featuring robots ⓘ
hasEffect	constrains robot behavior toward humans ⓘ creates hierarchy of obligations for robots ⓘ
hasPart	First Law of Robotics ⓘ linked to: Three Laws of Robotics Second Law of Robotics ⓘ linked to: Three Laws of Robotics Third Law of Robotics ⓘ
hasTheme	conflict between rules ⓘ human–robot interaction ⓘ unintended consequences of rigid rules ⓘ
hasVariant	Zeroth Law of Robotics ⓘ
inception	1942 ⓘ
influenced	AI safety discussions ⓘ popular culture depictions of robots ⓘ robotics ethics discourse ⓘ
influencedBy	earlier robot fiction ⓘ
languageOfWorkOrName	English ⓘ
mainSubject	artificial intelligence ⓘ robot ethics ⓘ robots ⓘ
notableWork	I, Robot ⓘ Runaround ⓘ
orderOfPriority	First Law supersedes Second Law ⓘ First Law supersedes Third Law ⓘ Second Law supersedes Third Law ⓘ
purpose	prevent robots from harming humans ⓘ
statedIn	I, Robot ⓘ Runaround ⓘ
usedIn	Asimov robot stories ⓘ linked to: I, Robot Foundation universe ⓘ Robot series ⓘ

How these facts were elicited