[norwaypinesavage]

A key provision of the doctor’s ancient Hypotactic oath is: “First, do no harm”. I guess robots don’t take that oath.

[TomGuy]

The Three Laws of Robotics (often shortened to The Three Laws or known as Asimov's Laws) are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov. The rules were introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround" (included in the 1950 collection I, Robot), although they had been foreshadowed in a few earlier stories. The Three Laws, quoted as being from the "Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D.", are:
1. First Law - A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. Second Law - A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. Third Law - A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.^[1]

These form an organizing principle and unifying theme for Asimov's robotic-based fiction, appearing in his Robot series, the stories linked to it, and his Lucky Starr series of young-adult fiction.
[source: wikipedia: Three Laws of Robotics]

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