Review: the Bicentennial Man

The Bicentennial Man is a collection of short stories by this week’s featured author, Isaac Asimov. The title story is about a robot who is given the name Andrew Martin after the family he works for. Andrew discovers he has extraordinary artistic talents and as the decades pass by Andrew begins to fight for what he believes are his rights; to own money and property and to become emancipated from his owner. After tremendous legal battles, he is finally declared legally human.

This book raises many questions about artificial intelligence which may become more and more relevant as time progresses. If mankind creates an intelligence which becomes superior to his own, should they ever be given freedom and rights? Asimov delivers thought-provoking insight into a potential future challenge.