18 Famous Technology And AI Quotes By Isaac Asimov
Last Updated on June 11, 2022
American science fiction novelist and biochemist Isaac Asimov (born on January 2, 1920 in Saint-Petersburg, Russia; died on April 6, 1992 in Los Angeles) was most known for his prolific output of approximately 500 works.
Isaac Asimov was a prolific American author and a professor of biochemistry at what is now known as “Boston University.”
People know him for his ideas, books, and other works about popular science and science fiction. He changed about 90,000 letters and postcards. Asimov also wrote and edited a lot of books, about 500 in all. Asimov was one of the “Big Three” science fiction writers during his time.
Here are some of Isaac Asimov’s best quotes and sayings about science, technology, and artificial intelligence.
Isaac Asimov’s Quotes On Technology, AI And Science
1. “There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere.” – Isaac Asimov
2. “All sorts of computer errors are now turning up. You’d be surprised to know the number of doctors who claim they are treating pregnant men.” – Isaac Asimov
3. “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny…’” – Isaac Asimov
4. “Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.” – Isaac Asimov
5. “I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.” – Isaac Asimov
6. “Intelligence is an accident of evolution, and not necessarily an advantage.” – Isaac Asimov
7. Creationists make it sound as though a ‘theory’ is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night. – Isaac Asimov
8. How often people speak of art and science as though they were two entirely different things, with no interconnection. An artist is emotional, they think, and uses only his intuition; he sees all at once and has no need of reason. A scientist is cold, they think, and uses only his reason; he argues carefully step by step, and needs no imagination. That is all wrong. The true artist is quite rational as well as imaginative and knows what he is doing; if he does not, his art suffers. The true scientist is quite imaginative as well as rational, and sometimes leaps to solutions where reason can follow only slowly; if he does not, his science suffers. – Isaac Asimov
9. “Science can be introduced to children well or poorly. If poorly, children can be turned away from science; they can develop a lifelong antipathy; they will be in a far worse condition than if they had never been introduced to science at all.” – Isaac Asimov
10. “The Three Laws of Robotics:
1: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm;
2: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law;
3: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law;
The Zeroth Law: A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.” – Isaac Asimov
11. “Actions such as his could come only from a robot, or from a very honorable and decent human being. But you see, you can’t differentiate between a robot and the very best of humans.” – Isaac Asimov
12. “A scientist is as weak and human as any man, but the pursuit of science may ennoble him even against his will.” – Isaac Asimov
13. “Any teacher that can be replaced by a computer should be replaced by a computer.” – Isaac Asimov
14. “The further a device is removed from human control, the more authentically mechanical it seems, and the whole trend in technology has been to devise machines that are less and less under direct human control and more and more under their own apparent will.” – Isaac Asimov
15. “In all the known history of Mankind, advances have been made primarily in physical technology; in the capacity of handling the inanimate world about Man. Control of self and society has been left to to chance or to the vague gropings of intuitive ethical systems based on inspiration and emotion. As a result no culture of greater stability than about fifty-five percent has ever existed, and these only as the result of great human misery.” – Isaac Asimov
16. “How often people speak of art and science as though they were two entirely different things, with no interconnection. An artist is emotional, they think, and uses only his intuition; he sees all at once and has no need of reason. A scientist is cold, they think, and uses only his reason; he argues carefully step by step, and needs no imagination. That is all wrong. The true artist is quite rational as well as imaginative and knows what he is doing; if he does not, his art suffers. The true scientist is quite imaginative as well as rational, and sometimes leaps to solutions where reason can follow only slowly; if he does not, his science suffers.” – Isaac Asimov
17.“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” – Isaac Asimov
18. “Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know—and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know—even if the knowledge endures only for the moment that comes before destruction—than to gain eternal life at the price of a dull and swinish lack of comprehension of a universe that swirls unseen before us in all its wonder. That was the choice of Achilles, and it is mine, too.” – Isaac Asimov
Read About Isaac Asimov
FAQ’s
How is Isaac Asimov associated with artificial intelligence?
In the 1940s, Isaac Asimov made significant contributions to the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning. In many of his works, he depicts robots that take on human or humanoid forms, expressing his thoughts on AI (Androids).
