The Evitable Conflict
E201020
"The Evitable Conflict" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov that explores how powerful supercomputers subtly manage global society to prevent conflict while raising questions about free will and technocratic control.
All labels observed (4)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| The Evitable Conflict canonical | 5 |
| The Evitable Conflict (short story) | 1 |
| short story "The Evitable Conflict" | 1 |
| “The Evitable Conflict” | 1 |
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf | science fiction short story ⓘ |
| author | Isaac Asimov ⓘ |
| centralTheme |
conflict prevention
ⓘ
ethics of artificial intelligence ⓘ free will ⓘ human dependence on machines ⓘ technocratic control ⓘ |
| collectedIn |
I, Robot
ⓘ
surface form:
I, Robot (Gnome Press, 1950)
|
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| depicts |
Machines that guide world society
ⓘ
global economy managed by supercomputers ⓘ |
| exploresConcept |
application of the Three Laws of Robotics at a global scale
ⓘ
subtle manipulation of human affairs by computers ⓘ trade-off between individual freedom and collective welfare ⓘ |
| featuresCharacter |
Stephen Byerley
ⓘ
Dr. Susan Calvin ⓘ
surface form:
Susan Calvin
|
| firstPublicationYear | 1950 ⓘ |
| firstPublishedIn | Astounding Science Fiction ⓘ |
| genre | science fiction ⓘ |
| hasMoralDilemma | accepting benevolent manipulation to avoid war ⓘ |
| hasTitleOrigin | plays on the idea that conflict can be made evitable rather than inevitable ⓘ |
| influenced | later discussions of benevolent AI dictatorship ⓘ |
| inUniverseTechnology | large-scale supercomputers called Machines ⓘ |
| investigationFocus | apparent economic and industrial errors ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| machineGoal |
minimization of human suffering
ⓘ
prevention of large-scale conflict ⓘ |
| narrativeForm | framed as an investigation ⓘ |
| narrativePerspective | third-person ⓘ |
| originalMedium | pulp science fiction magazine ⓘ |
| partOf | I, Robot ⓘ |
| partOfContinuity | Asimov's positronic robot universe ⓘ |
| positionInCollection | final story in I, Robot ⓘ |
| publisherOfFirstMagazineAppearance | Street & Smith ⓘ |
| questionRaised |
whether humans remain truly free under machine guidance
ⓘ
whether technocratic rule by machines is desirable ⓘ |
| relatedWorkByAuthor |
Evidence
ⓘ
Liar! ⓘ Reason ⓘ Runaround ⓘ |
| reveals | Machines are deliberately favoring some groups over others ⓘ |
| series |
Robot series
ⓘ
Susan Calvin stories ⓘ |
| settingPlace | global ⓘ |
| settingTime | mid-21st century ⓘ |
| subgenre |
robot fiction
ⓘ
social science fiction ⓘ |
Referenced by (8)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
short story "The Evitable Conflict"
this entity surface form:
The Evitable Conflict (short story)
this entity surface form:
“The Evitable Conflict”