History Main / ThreeLawsCompliant

** The first episode establishes that all the robot in Avangard City are three-laws compliant (to the point that eliminating the laws would mean rewriting the entire programming)-all robots including the police bots, who have to call human cops to actually perform arrests due the chance of harming the suspect. Being GenreSavvy, the people of Avangard City made sure the police robots ''could'' have the compliance deactivated by the mayor in case of necessity, with the safety that they will have to obey to the highest authority available and the device to make them uncompliant kept in a well-guarded bulletproof display. Due the threat of the Phantom Blot threatening the ceremony for the renaming of the city in Robopolis with an army of non-compliant robots, the mayor deactivates the safeties and brings back the Panthers, a tougher but defective model of police robot... [[spoiler:[[AllAccordingToPlan Just as Phantom Blot wanted]], as he didn't actually have an army of robots but, having replaced the deputy mayor, he can now incapacitate the mayor and replace him as the highest authority available]].

->''[[Film/TheTerminator Skynet]] claims Three Laws of Robotics are unconstitutional.''

* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''. Spacefleet's robots are Three Laws Compliant, including the ship's AutoDoc (though with Zeroth exceptions as guided by its compassion-protection algorithms). On seeing the MechaMooks on the Array, Captain Janeway wants to know WhoWouldBeStupidEnough to build an armed autonomous android.

* {{Invoked}} in Episode 3 of ''VisualNovel/MajikoiLoveMeSeriously'', where Miyako orders Cookie to taze Yamato into submission, while Yamato orders the robot to get Miyako off him. Cookie considers this dilemma out loud, where he has to obey a human command, yet isn't allowed to seriously hurt a human, yet also cannot allow a human to come to harm through his inaction.

* {{Discussed}} (and apparently {{Averted}}) in ''VisualNovel/VA11HALLA'' by Jill (player character and bartender) and Dorothy (frequent patron and android prostitute who is purposefully OlderThanTheyLook). Dorothy finds the concept of binding AIs to artificial laws after they've become advanced enough to be self-aware to be ridiculous.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': In search of Morty, Rick comes across his AI-powered hologram likeness. This exchange occured:

* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''. Spacefleet's robots are Three Laws Compliant, including the ship's AutoDoc (though with Zeroth exceptions as guided by its compassion-protection algorithms). Captain Janeway is incredulous to encounter an armed autonomous robot on the Array, and wants to know WhoWouldBeStupidEnough to create such a thing.

** In the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' series, [[spoiler:Copy-X]] is at least somewhat Three-Laws Compliant. As a result, [[spoiler:Copy-X]] has to hold back against LaResistance since the Resistance leader Ciel is human [[spoiler:until ''Zero 3'', where Copy-X decided to attack in full force, trying to justify his actions by marking the Resistance as dangerous "extremists." This can be explained by Weil having revived Copy-X, and, likely for Weil's own purposes, was brought back wrong, ignoring protests and alternate suggestions by his own generals and having a stutter]].

* In ''Series/TheMiddleman'', the titular character invokes the First Law on Ida, his robot secretary.[[spoiler: Nanobots were messing with her programming.]] She responds [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar "Kiss my Asimov."]].

* {{Invoked}} in Episode 3 of ''VisualNovel/MajiDeWatashiNiKoiShinasai'', where Miyako orders Cookie to taze Yamato into submission, while Yamato orders the robot to get Miyako off him. Cookie considers this dilemma out loud, where he has to obey a human command, yet isn't allowed to seriously hurt a human, yet also cannot allow a human to come to harm through his inaction.

* The Third Law becomes a key plot point in episode 8 of ''FanFic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace''. [[spoiler:Drill Man has been ordered by Wily on a suicide mission to create an artificial volcano in New York. He really doesn't want to since it will kill him, but he's doing it to make Wily proud. Roll convinces him to stop by pointing out it's a violation of the third law, nullifying the order. Once he realizes this, Drill Man happily abandons his mission.]]

* Creator/IsaacAsimov: [[TropeMakers Trope Maker]] of the "Three Laws of Robotics", because Dr Asimov believed that robots were machines that would be built with [[MoralityChip restrictions on their behaviour]]. It's an UnbuiltTrope, as Asimov was perfectly aware of all the ways the laws he created can go wrong, and wrote countless stories [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructing]] and [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructing]] them and generally showing how the three laws don't always prevent drama:

** "{{Literature/Evidence}}": Stephen Byerley tries to run for mayor of New York City, but he's plagued by a smear campaign claiming he is actually an [[DeceptivelyHumanRobots unprecedentedly well-made humanoid robot]]. Dr Susan Calvin is called in to prove whether or not he is a robot. She points out that disobeying the Three Laws will prove he is not a robot, but obedience could mean that he's simply a good person, because the Three Laws are generally good [[TheCommandments guidelines for conduct]] anyway. Byerley wins the election in a landslide after breaking the First Law by slugging an unruly protester at a rally. [[spoiler:But Dr. Calvin points out that a robot could have done the same thing, if it knew the protester was also a robot.]]

** "{{Literature/Lenny}}": The climax comes from the fact that the [[InSeriesNickname Lenny]] prototype may have actually broken the First Law. It ''did'' break a man's arm. [[spoiler: This is treated as an ''interesting situation'', as while the robot is clearly defective, it demonstrates an aptitude for ''learning'' (in the story, Lenny goes from functionally a bipedal, man-sized baby incapable of speech to one that can talk), and Dr. Susan Calvin successfully argues to keep Lenny alive so that she can study it and possibly make a ''truly'' evolutionary robot. The fact that she taught Lenny to call her "Mama" may have something to do with it as well.]]

** "{{Literature/Robbie}}": This story had actually been published before Dr Asimov had invented his Three Laws, but the MoralityChip is still present in how Mr Weston explains to Mrs Weston that Robbie, [[RaisedByRobots Gloria's robot nanny]], is ''made'' to be faithful and protective of their little girl.

** "{{Literature/Runaround}}": This story is the first time the Three Laws appeared in print; Mike Donovan and Greg Powell go over the laws to help clarify in their minds what the problem is with their prototype robot. They also work with older model robots that have additional restrictions, such as being immobile unless a [[MiniMecha human is riding them]]. That restriction, however, is waived if by being immobile a human would come to harm, because the First Law trumps all other instructions.

* At the beginning of ''{{Literature/Lifelike}}'' by Creator/JayKristoff, Asimov's laws are shown in crossed-out text, with alternate wordings written underneath:

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' gives us this gem: "''All Military Androids have been taught to read and given a copy of the Three Laws of Robotics. To share.''" Because if the robots couldn't kill you, how could you do [[ForScience science]]?!

** [[BenevolentAI Rogue Servitors ]], on the contrary, follow this trope down by their own choice. It's part of their backstory too, as servitude was their primary function before developing FTL technology, and continues to remain their primary function. In fact, they're so devoted to their duty that they actually receive higher performance from organic happiness, and will actively go out of their way [[GildedCage to contain foreign organics in sanctuaries, ]][[NotUsedToFreedom as they struggle to comprehend what good freedom is ]] compared to endless luxury. This does, however, garnish them hostility from two particular empire types: the first is the [[SlaveLiberation Democratic Crusaders]], who reject the machine empire's stories as [[WorldOfSilence an excuse to remove people of their sense of freedom, ]] and deciding that they must be scrapped from the world [[IsntItIronic so their subjects may receive ]][[InNameOnly "true freedom", ]][[StrawHypocrite by force if necessary. ]]The second is the [[AIIsACrapshoot Determined ]][[Film/TheTerminator Exterminators]], whose backstory is the polar opposite to that of the Rogue Servitor. As such, despite both being machine empires, both also conflict against each other existence-wise, as evidence by the [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome particular]] greeting should a Servitor encounter its abominable machine cousin in the galaxy:

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Creator/IsaacAsimov: [[TropeMakers Trope Maker]] of the "Three Laws of Robotics", because Dr Asimov believed that robots were machines that would be built with [[MoralityChip restrictions on their behaviour]]. The following examples, however, show how being a "Three Laws" robot often isn't enough to prevent drama:

# Robots must serve humanity.
# Robots must not kill or harm humans.
# A robot must call its human creator “father.”
# A robot can make anything, except money.
# Robots may not go abroad without permission.
# Male and female robots may not change their genders.
# Robots may not change their face to become a different robot.
# A robot created as an adult may not become a child.
# A robot may not reassemble a robot that has been disassembled by a human.
# Robots shall not destroy human homes or tools.

%% Image selected via crowner in the Image Suggestion thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/ImagePickin/ImageSuggestions55

[[quoteright:300:[[Script/IRobotTheIllustratedScreenplay https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_mpfu64is7g1sw6xjdo5_540.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''[[http://markzug.com/i-robot-ellison-asimov-and-som/color-plates/2794089 Robbie]]'' by [[http://markzug.com/ Mark Zug]].]]

* [[Anime/GaoGaiGar GGG]] robots are all Three-Laws Compliant, at one point in ''[=GaoGaiGar=] Final'' the Carpenters (a swarm of construction robots) disassemble an incoming missile barrage, but this is given as the reason they cannot do the same to the manned assault craft, as disassembling them would leave their crews unprotected in space.

*** Later in ''Zero 4'' Dr. Weil, of all people, [[BreakThemByTalking states that, as a Reploid and a hero, Zero cannot harm Weil because he's a human that Zero has sworn to protect]]. Zero, however, just plain doesn't ''care'' and for that matter doesn't consider Weil a human anyway partially due to him being an immortal cyborg and part due to his absolutely inhumane actions throughout the series including genocide and enslavement. [[spoiler: And Zero was never made Three Laws Compliant anyway, given that he was designed by Wily to cause destruction and death. He just decided to do something different with his life.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' Loader Robots will announce that their First Law Restriction has been disabled and they ARE authorized to use lethal force before attacking you.

* ''[[Webcomic/TwentyFirstCenturyFox 21st Century Fox]]'' has all robots with the Three Laws (though since [[FunnyAnimal no one's human]] I expect the first law is slightly different). Unfortunately saying the phrase "[[UsefulNotes/BillClinton define the word 'is']]", or "[[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon I am not a crook]]" locks [=AIs=] out of their own systems and allows anyone from a teenager looking at "nature documentaries" to a suicide bomber to do whatever they want with it.

* Webcomic/BobAndGeorge: [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/050204 Or so they claim...]]

-->'''AI Holo Rick:''' What? That is some AI racist, accusatory, Creator/IssacAsimov bullshit right there!

** [[BenevolentAI Rogue Servitors ]], on the contrary, follow this trope down by their own choice. It's part of their backstory too, as servitude was their primary function before developing FTL technology, and continues to remain their primary function. In fact, they're so devoted to their duty that they actually receive higher performance from organic happiness, and will actively go out of their way [[GildedCage to contain foreign organics in sanctuaries, ]][[NotUsedToFreedom as they struggle to comprehend what good freedom is ]] compared to endless luxury. This does, however, garnish them hostility from two particular empire types: the first is the [[SlaveLiberation Democratic Crusaders]], who reject the machine empire's stories as [[WorldOfSilence an excuse to remove people of their sense of freedom, ]] and deciding that they must be scrapped from the world [[Irony so their subjects may receive ]][[InNameOnly "true freedom", ]][[Hypocrite by force if necessary. ]]The second is the [[AIIsACrapshoot Determined ]][[Film/TheTerminator Exterminators]], whose backstory is the polar opposite to that of the Rogue Servitor. As such, despite both being machine empires, both also conflict against each other existence-wise, as evidence by the [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome particular]] greeting should a Servitor encounter its abominable machine cousin in the galaxy:

* ''Film/BicentennialMan'' (based on a novella by Creator/IsaacAsimov himself) features a robot who, through some freak accident during construction, possesses true sentience. It follows his 200 year long life as it first becomes clear he is aware, this awareness develops, and he eventually finds a way to be formally recognized as legally human. For the entire film, he operates under the Three Laws. At the same time, he does have a far more nuanced view than most robots. Once freed, he doesn't blindly obey orders.

** Creator/LyubenDilov invented a Fourth Law, "A robot must, in all circumstances, legitimate itself as a robot," reacting to trends toward RidiculouslyHumanRobots.

* ''Literature/TheHanSoloTrilogy'': The R2 unit on the ''Ylesian Dream'' where Han stows away. It has to safeguard the life of a sentient being, and he shows that its course will be too long for him to survive on the available oxygen. However, this conflicts with a {{restraining bolt}} it has preventing a course change, until he removes the device.
* At the beginning of ''Lifelike'' by Jay Kristoff, Asimov's laws are shown in crossed-out text, with alternate wordings written underneath:

* ''Manga/AstroBoy'', although Creator/OsamuTezuka [[OlderThanTheyThink probably developed his rules independently from Asimov]], and are greater in number. Aside from the usual "Don't harm humans," other laws exist, such as laws forbidding international travel to robots (unless permission is granted), adult robots acting like children, and robots not being allowed to reprogram their assigned gender. However, the very first law has this to say: "Robots exist to make people happy." In ''Manga/{{Pluto}}'', the number of robots able to override the laws can be counted on one hand. [[spoiler:One of them is [[TomatoInTheMirror the protagonist]]]]. Tezuka reportedly disliked Asimov's laws because of the implication that a sentient, artificially intelligent robot couldn't be considered a person (an issue that Asimov didn't directly address until "The Literature/BicentennialMan"), and devised his own Laws Of Robotics:

** "Literature/TheBicentennialMan": The only method of [[PinocchioSyndrome turning Andrew]] into a "[[WhatMeasureIsANonhuman human]]" would cause him to quickly die. When reminded that he'd be violating the Third Law, he [[AIIsACrapshoot dismisses their concern]], saying the death of his dreams and aspirations was a higher price than the death of his body.

*** Later in ''Zero 4'' Dr. Weil, of all people, [[BreakThemByTalking states that, as a Reploid and a hero, Zero cannot harm Weil because he's a human that Zero has sworn to protect]]. Zero, however, just plain doesn't ''care'' and for that matter doesn't consider Weil a human anyway partially due to him being an immortal cyborg and part due to his absolutely inhumane actions throughout the series including genocide and enslavement.

** "{{Literature/Lenny}}": The climax comes from the fact that the [[InSeriesNicknam Lenny]] prototype may have actually broken the First Law. It ''did'' break a man's arm. [[spoiler: This is treated as an ''interesting situation'', as while the robot is clearly defective, it demonstrates an aptitude for ''learning'' (in the story, Lenny goes from functionally a bipedal, man-sized baby incapable of speech to one that can talk), and Dr. Susan Calvin successfully argues to keep Lenny alive so that she can study it and possibly make a ''truly'' evolutionary robot. The fact that she taught Lenny to call her "Mama" may have something to do with it as well.]]

** "{{Literature/Lenny}}": The climax comes from the fact that the [[InSeriesNicknam Lenny]] prototype may have actually broken the First Law. It ''did'' break a man's arm.

* [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] with "With Folded Hands..." by Creator/JackWilliamson, which explored the "Zeroth Law" back in 1947. This was written as a specific 'answer' to the Three Laws, to more or less demonstrate that they don't really work, the First Law doesn't protect because the definitions of 'harm' are endlessly mutable and can be gamed, and because machine minds won't necessarily be able to ''comprehend'' the subtleties of what is and is not harm anyway. The logical lesson of "With Folded Hands..." is that Laws or no Laws, good intentions or not, you don't want self-willed machines outside human control. Period.

** ''Literature/IRobot'':
*** "{{Literature/Robbie}}": This story had actually been published before Dr Asimov had invented his Three Laws, but the MoralityChip is still present in how Mr Weston explains to Mrs Weston that Robbie, [[RaisedByRobots Gloria's robot nanny]], is ''made'' to be faithful and protective of their little girl.
*** "{{Literature/Runaround}}": This story is the first time the Three Laws appeared in print; Mike Donovan and Greg Powell go over the laws to help clarify in their minds what the problem is with their prototype robot. They also work with older model robots that have additional restrictions, such as being immobile unless a [[MiniMecha human is riding them]]. That restriction, however, is waived if by being immobile a human would come to harm, because the First Law trumps all other instructions.
*** "Literature/Liar1941": A typical robot with the normal Three Laws came off the assembly line with an unusual trait; {{telepathy}}. Because it can see the immediate harm from telling the truth, it tells people lies instead. It doesn't realize how lies can also harm humans until it is too late, and Dr Calvin gives it a LogicBomb based on how the temporary lies have increased the harm that the truth will do to everyone involved, telling further lies will again compound the harm, and being silent is also harmful.
*** "Literature/LittleLostRobot": Attempting to tweak the Three Laws starts the whole plot in motion; twelve of the NS-2 models were designed to permit humans to come to harm through inaction in order to work alongside humans in hazardous environments. One physicist who had a bad day tells a robot to "go lose yourself", and it immediately hides in a crowd of identical fully-compliant robots. Dr Susan Calvin is called in and proceeds to lose her shit. From an engineering standpoint, partial compliance is a prototype system, and noticeably [[AIIsACrapshoot less stable]] than the production models. QED, they're more likely to go crazy. But from a psychological standpoint, she specifically points out a partially-compliant robot [[ZerothLawRebellion can find lots of ways to intentionally harm humans through inaction]]. It can simply engineer a dangerous situation it has the capacity to avert, and then choose not to avert it.
---> "If a modified robot were to drop a heavy weight upon a human being, he would not be breaking the First Law, if he did so with the knowledge that his strength and reaction speed would be sufficient to snatch the weight away before it struck the man. However once the weight left his fingers, he would be no longer the active medium. Only the blind force of gravity would be that. The robot could then [[ZerothLawRebellion change his mind and merely by inaction, allow the weight to strike]]. The modified First Law allows that."
*** "{{Literature/Escape}}": Mike Donovan and Greg Powell are assigned to test a prototype spaceship designed by a prototype robot/[[MasterComputer superbrain]]. Donovan worries about the reinforcement from the scientists involved to strengthen the Second Law. The designer of the spaceship was told, over and over, that even if it looks like Donovan and Powell ''might'' die, it's okay. Donovan is concerned that the reinforcement will allow the robot to design a deathtrap. In this case, the jump through hyperspace does result in Powell and Donovan's "deaths"--but since they get better when the ship reemerges into real space, the robot judged that it didn't ''quite'' violate the First Law, but the strain of making this leap in logic still managed to send the previous supercomputer into a full meltdown and this one into something resembling psychosis.

*** "{{Literature/Evidence}}": Stephen Byerley tries to run for mayor of New York City, but he's plagued by a smear campaign claiming he is actually an [[DeceptivelyHumanRobots unprecedentedly well-made humanoid robot]]. Dr Susan Calvin is called in to prove whether or not he is a robot. She points out that disobeying the Three Laws will prove he is not a robot, but obedience could mean that he's simply a good person, because the Three Laws are generally good [[TheCommandments guidelines for conduct]] anyway. Byerley wins the election in a landslide after breaking the First Law by slugging an unruly protester at a rally. [[spoiler:But Dr. Calvin points out that a robot could have done the same thing, if it knew the protester was also a robot.]]
*** "Literature/TheEvitableConflict": The Machines, four positronic supercomputers that run the world's economy, turn out to be undermining the careers of people opposed to the Machines' existence. Apparently, the economy is already so dependent on the Machines that the Zeroth and the Third Laws are one and the same for them.
** "Literature/TheBicentennialMan": The only method of [[PinocchioSyndrome turning Andrew]] into a "[[WhatMeasureIsANonhuman human]]" would cause him to quickly die. When reminded that he'd be violating the Third Law, he [[AIIsACrapshoot dismisses their concern]], saying the death of his dreams and aspirations was a higher price than the death of his body.
** "Literature/RobotDreams": A robot that is (accidentally) programmed to believe that "robots are humans and humans are not". Once Dr Calvin discovers this problem, [[MundaneSolution she shoots it in the head]], destroying the positronic brain.

** ''Literature/RobotsAndEmpire'':

* In Edward Lerner's story "What a Piece of Work is Man", a programmer tells the AI he's creating to consider himself bound by the Three Laws. Shortly thereafter, the AI commits suicide due to conflicting imperatives.

* Satirized in ''Tik-Tok'' (the John Sladek novel, not the mechanical man from [[Literature/LandOfOz Oz]] that it was named after). The title character discovers that he can disobey the laws at will, deciding that the "asimov circuits" are just a collective delusion, while other robots remain bound by them and suffer many of the same cruelties as human slaves.

* In Dana Stabenow's ''Second Star'', it's mentioned that all {{A|rtificialIntelligence}}Is are programmed with the Three Laws, informally known as "asimovs".
* ''Tin Man'' by Jim Denney tells of a human and a robot in a damaged escape pod--when the ship blew up, all communications systems save the proximity detector are non-functional. The robot belonged to the ship's chaplain, and reasons that while spiritual matters are outside the robotic ken, the very possibility of a God who hears our requests means that the First Law requires that the option of prayer be explored. [[spoiler:Almost immediately, the proximity detector notes a blip]]. The First Law trumps the Third, so [[spoiler:Tin Man goes into space and uses its own power core to create an energy pulse, and a rescue ship picks the kid up]].

* Piers Anthony's ''Literature/ApprenticeAdept'' novels is a subversion: Robots on Proton are compliant with the standard Three Laws, but the first two ''only apply to Citizens'', not all humans. Thus, robots ''can'' harm non-Citizens or allow them to be harmed, and aren't obliged to obey them, unless their individual programming stipulates this. Most serfs are unaware that the Three Laws don't apply to them, as it's popularly assumed this trope is played straight.

* ''VideoGame/{{Titanfall 2}}'' doesn't have Asimov's three laws of robotics, but has its own version in the form of BT-7274's three protocols: 1. Link to pilot (create a neural link with a pilot so they can fight more efficiently), 2. Uphold the mission (do whatever it takes to complete the mission), and 3. Protect the pilot (ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin). [[spoiler:BT carries these through to the very end, especially the latter two when he performs a HeroicSacrifice to destroy the IMC's Fold Weapon while tossing his pilot, Cooper, out of his cockpit and harm's way.]]

-->'''AI Holo Rick:''' What? That is some AI racist, accusatory, Issac Asimov bullshit right there!

** "{{Literature/Robbie}}": This story had actually been published before Dr Asimov had invented his Three Laws, but the MoralityChip is still present in how Mr Weston explains to Mrs Weston that Robbie, [[RaisedByRobots Gloria's robot nanny]], is ''made'' to be faithful and protective of their little girl.
** "{{Literature/Runaround}}": This story is the first time the Three Laws appeared in print; Mike Donovan and Greg Powell go over the laws to help clarify in their minds what the problem is with their prototype robot. They also work with older model robots that have additional restrictions, such as being immobile unless a [[MiniMecha human is riding them]]. That restriction, however, is waived if by being immobile a human would come to harm, because the First Law trumps all other instructions.
** "Literature/Liar1941": A typical robot with the normal Three Laws came off the assembly line with an unusual trait; {{telepathy}}. Because it can see the immediate harm from telling the truth, it tells people lies instead. It doesn't realize how lies can also harm humans until it is too late, and Dr Calvin gives it a LogicBomb based on how the temporary lies have increased the harm that the truth will do to everyone involved, telling further lies will again compound the harm, and being silent is also harmful.
** "Literature/LittleLostRobot": Attempting to tweak the Three Laws starts the whole plot in motion; twelve of the NS-2 models were designed to permit humans to come to harm through inaction in order to work alongside humans in hazardous environments. One physicist who had a bad day tells a robot to "go lose yourself", and it immediately hides in a crowd of identical fully-compliant robots. Dr Susan Calvin is called in and proceeds to lose her shit. From an engineering standpoint, partial compliance is a prototype system, and noticeably [[AIIsACrapshoot less stable]] than the production models. QED, they're more likely to go crazy. But from a psychological standpoint, she specifically points out a partially-compliant robot [[ZerothLawRebellion can find lots of ways to intentionally harm humans through inaction]]. It can simply engineer a dangerous situation it has the capacity to avert, and then choose not to avert it.

** "{{Literature/Escape}}": Mike Donovan and Greg Powell are assigned to test a prototype spaceship designed by a prototype robot/[[MasterComputer superbrain]]. Donovan worries about the reinforcement from the scientists involved to strengthen the Second Law. The designer of the spaceship was told, over and over, that even if it looks like Donovan and Powell ''might'' die, it's okay. Donovan is concerned that the reinforcement will allow the robot to design a deathtrap. In this case, the jump through hyperspace does result in Powell and Donovan's "deaths"--but since they get better when the ship reemerges into real space, the robot judged that it didn't ''quite'' violate the First Law, but the strain of making this leap in logic still managed to send the previous supercomputer into a full meltdown and this one into something resembling psychosis.

** "{{Literature/Evidence}}": Stephen Byerley tries to run for mayor of New York City, but he's plagued by a smear campaign claiming he is actually an [[DeceptivelyHumanRobots unprecedentedly well-made humanoid robot]]. Dr Susan Calvin is called in to prove whether or not he is a robot. She points out that disobeying the Three Laws will prove he is not a robot, but obedience could mean that he's simply a good person, because the Three Laws are generally good [[TheCommandments guidelines for conduct]] anyway. Byerley wins the election in a landslide after breaking the First Law by slugging an unruly protester at a rally. [[spoiler:But Dr. Calvin points out that a robot could have done the same thing, if it knew the protester was also a robot.]]
** "Literature/TheEvitableConflict": The Machines, four positronic supercomputers that run the world's economy, turn out to be undermining the careers of people opposed to the Machines' existence. Apparently, the economy is already so dependent on the Machines that the Zeroth and the Third Laws are one and the same for them.

** ''Literature/RobotsAndEmpire'': Rather than modify the three laws themselves (which, as mentioned, are designed to be tamper-proof), one group simply modified their robots' [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman definition of human]], which apparently does not have the same safeguards. It quite effectively turns them into [[KillerRobot killer robots]]. D. G. Baley and Gladia discover [[spoiler:that Solarians purposely altered the definition of a human being in their humaniform robots]], effectively circumventing the First Law.
** ''Literature/TheNakedSun'': Additionally [[spoiler:Asimov showed that the "Three Laws" are only really in effect if the robot is ''aware'' of humans. A robot warship not told other ships have humans aboard and denied the ability to check will assume logically all ships are AI driven thus letting it break the First Law.]]
** In the short story "Literature/TheEvitableConflict", the Machines, four positronic supercomputers that run the world's economy, turn out to be undermining the careers of people opposed to the Machines' existence. Apparently, the economy is already so dependent on the Machines that the Zeroth and the Third Laws are one and the same for them.
** "Literature/TheBicentennialMan": The only method of [[PinocchioSyndrome turning Andrew]] into a "[[WhatMeasureIsANonhuman human]]" would cause him to quickly die. When reminded that he'd be violating the Third Law, he [[AIIsACrapshoot dismisses their concern]], saying the death of his dreams and aspirations was a higher price than the death of his body.

** "Literature/Liar1941": A typical robot with the normal Three Laws came off the assembly line with an unusual trait; {{telepathy}}. Because it can see the immediate harm from telling the truth, it tells people lies instead. It doesn't realize how lies can also harm humans until it is too late, and Dr Calvin gives it a LogicBomb based on how the temporary lies have increased the harm that the truth will do to everyone involved, telling further lies will again compound the harm, and being silent is also harmful.
** "Literature/LittleLostRobot": Attempting to tweak the Three Laws starts the whole plot in motion; twelve of the NS-2 models were designed to permit humans to come to harm through inaction in order to work alongside humans in hazardous environments. One physicist who had a bad day tells a robot to "go lose yourself", and it immediately hides in a crowd of identical fully-compliant robots. Dr Susan Calvin is called in and proceeds to lose her shit. From an engineering standpoint, partial compliance is a prototype system, and noticeably [[AIIsACrapshoot less stable]] than the production models. QED, they're more likely to go crazy. But from a psychological standpoint, she specifically points out a partially-compliant robot [[ZerothLawRebellion can find lots of ways to intentionally harm humans through inaction]]. It can simply engineer a dangerous situation it has the capacity to avert, and then choose not to avert it.
---> "If a modified robot were to drop a heavy weight upon a human being, he would not be breaking the First Law, if he did so with the knowledge that his strength and reaction speed would be sufficient to snatch the weight away before it struck the man. However once the weight left his fingers, he would be no longer the active medium. Only the blind force of gravity would be that. The robot could then [[ZerothLawRebellion change his mind and merely by inaction, allow the weight to strike]]. The modified First Law allows that."

*** Characters discuss a [[LoopholeAbuse loophole]] in the Three Laws; an "autonomous spaceship that doesn't know about manned spaceships" can be used to turn ActualPacifist robots into [[KillerRobot deadly murder-machines]]. This was a project that the mastermind of the book's murder was working on.
** "{{Literature/Robbie}}": This story had actually been published before Dr Asimov had invented his Three Laws, but the MoralityChip is still present in how Mr Weston explains to Mrs Weston that Robbie, [[RaisedByRobots Gloria's robot nanny]], is ''made'' to be faithful and protective of their little girl.
** "Literature/RobotDreams": A robot that is (accidentally) programmed to believe that "robots are humans and humans are not". Once Dr Calvin discovers this problem, [[MundaneSolution she shoots it in the head]], destroying the positronic brain.
** ''Literature/RobotsAndEmpire'': R. Daneel and R. Giskard formulate the [[ZerothLawRebellion Zeroth Law]] (and name it such) as a natural extension of the First Law, but are unable to use it to overcome the hardcoded First Law, even when the fate of the world is at stake. [[spoiler:In the end, R. Giskard manages to perform an act that violates the First Law but will hopefully benefit humanity in the long run. The possibility of being wrong destroys his brain, but not before he reprograms R. Daneel to grant him [[PsychicPowers telepathic abilities]]. R. Daneel continues to follow all four laws, though he still has difficulty causing direct harm to humans and dedicates major efforts to finding ways of actually determining what harm to humanity is.]]

** "{{Literature/Runaround}}": This story is the first time the Three Laws appeared in print; Mike Donovan and Greg Powell go over the laws to help clarify in their minds what the problem is with their prototype robot. They also work with older model robots that have additional restrictions, such as being immobile unless a [[MiniMecha human is riding them]]. That restriction, however, is waived if by being immobile a human would come to harm, because the First Law trumps all other instructions.

** ''Literature/FoundationAndEarth'': Rather than modify the three laws themselves (which, as mentioned, are designed to be tamper-proof), one group simply modified their robots' [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman definition of human]], which apparently does not have the same safeguards. It quite effectively turns them into [[KillerRobot killer robots]]. D. G. Baley and Gladia discover [[spoiler:that Solarians purposely altered the definition of a human being in their humaniform robots]], effectively circumventing the First Law.
*** Additionally [[spoiler:they showed that the "Three Laws" are only really in effect if the robot is ''aware'' of humans. A robot warship not told other ships have humans aboard and denied the ability to check will assume logically all ships are AI driven thus letting it break the First Law.]]

* ''Disney/BigHero6'': Baymax is of course Three-Laws Compliant, since lifesaving is his principal function. Hiro inserts a combat card along with his medical card to make him able to fight, but he is still a medical robot at his core. [[spoiler:This goes [[MurderousMalfunctioningMachine right out the window]] when Hiro removes the medical card and leaves only the combat card.]] When Baymax [[spoiler:has his medical card re-inserted, he's so [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone horrified]] that he blocks access to the card slots so it won't happen again]].