Artificial Intelligence as a Cause of Existential Crisis in Isaac Asimov’s Short Stories

Authors

  • Zehra Shah
  • Momina Ayesha
  • Masooma Asi
  • Misha Ilyas

Keywords:

Cricis, Artificial Intelligence, Existentialism, Sartre

Abstract

Isaac Asimov was a prolific Science Fiction writer whose works explore the relationship between humans and machines, the ethical implications of advanced technology, and the potential consequences of creating artificial intelligent robots. Among his extensive body of works, the three short stories: Robbie (1940), Robot Dreams (1986), and The Bicentennial Man (1976), are selected to be analysed through French Philosopher, Jean Paul Sartre's concept of Existentialism. The study aims to analyze the Sartrean concept of “Existence precedes essence” emphasizing human existence and the responsibility of their choices and actions. This non-empirical study uses the data collected from the text of the selected short stories as the main source of investigation and employs the tool of textual analysis to identify and examine the concept of Sartrean existentialism. The results show that the robots in the stories strive to find their essence in a world of humans and their freedom is restricted due to human characters experiencing an existential crisis, mistrust, uneasiness, and anxiety.

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Published

2024-06-30

How to Cite

Zehra Shah, Momina Ayesha, Masooma Asi, & Misha Ilyas. (2024). Artificial Intelligence as a Cause of Existential Crisis in Isaac Asimov’s Short Stories. Panacea Journal of Linguistics & Literature, 3(1), 204–214. Retrieved from https://journals.airsd.org/index.php/pjll/article/view/422

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Section

Articles