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S2:E8 - I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (2004 Film)
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Welcome to the final episode of March Mysteries! This time, we’re diving into the world of artificial intelligence, rogue robots, and Isaac Asimov’s iconic Three Laws of Robotics with I, Robot! We’re breaking down both the 1950 book of short stories that shaped the sci-fi genre and the 2004 film adaptation starring Will Smith.
Hosted by Crystal with co-hosts Keri and Lindsey.
Books & Adaptations Mentioned:
Question of the Episode:
- “What are some tasks you would love to hand over to a robot, and what are some tasks you would never trust to give to a robot?”
Share your opinions with us on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube or email us at basedonabookpodcast@gmail.com.
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Intro/Outro Music - Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!)
Thanks for listening to Based on a Book - see you in the next chapter!
Chapters:
(00:00) Introductions
(0:49) Let’s talk book ratings
(5:56) Book vs. Movie Breakdown (SPOILERS)
(8:35) Going through the short story collection
(58:04) Now let's go through the movie
(1:38:30) Final Verdicts
(1:39:35) Question of the Episode
Recommended
Transcript
Introductions and Perspectives on Sci-Fi
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome Based on a Book, the podcast safely recorded here on Earth. I'm your host, Crystal, and I'm not a robot. I'm Carrie. If a robot replaces me, it better keep my sarcasm in my five go-to Vine quotes.
00:00:23
Speaker
And I'm Lindsay, and I welcome our mechanical overlords. Oh, Lord. Well, this week we're covering the sci-fi classic I, Robot, the series of shorts written by Isaac Asimov from 1940 to 1950 and the movie in 2004 starring Will Smith.
00:00:43
Speaker
There is a ton to cover here because this book is nine separate short stories. So let's just jump right into it.
Carrie's Surprising Enjoyment of 'I, Robot'
00:00:52
Speaker
I'm going to ask Carrie, what do you think?
00:00:56
Speaker
I have no idea what anybody's to think on this. Like, I'm just going to come out and start with my like, this is a five stars for me. This is my, old this is my jam. But I know this is not necessarily y'all's like favorite genre.
00:01:08
Speaker
So I have no idea if you're just going to be like, this was trash. I hated it. Or if you're going to be like, okay, I understand why Crystal likes it. Who? I have no idea. So I'm scared. Gary, tell us what think. So I will say that I watched the movie first because I thought I had seen it before.
00:01:24
Speaker
and then I started it and realized I had never seen this movie before in my life. And I was like, oh my gosh. Well, I think maybe I saw it in passing, like on TV or something. Like I've seen, like scenes are obviously familiar.
00:01:39
Speaker
Never watched all the way through before. So I did watch the movie before reading the collection of short stories. But I am giving it 2.5 NS5 robots.
00:01:55
Speaker
But I want to say this. I do want to say this. I love this podcast. And because i would never... Like, go in, like, I was, I'm not gonna lie, I was dreading this a little bit.
00:02:10
Speaker
I was dreading watching the movie and I was dreading reading this book because, like you said, this isn't really my genre, but I love this podcast because I loved this freaking movie.
00:02:21
Speaker
I love a movie.
Mixed Feelings on 'I, Robot' Stories
00:02:23
Speaker
Okay. And I don't know why, like, I was having the time of my life watching this movie. It's not a bad movie. I don't know why. Like, I was like, oh my gosh. Like, and you know what? I was really hyped going into the book.
00:02:36
Speaker
Because was like, you know what? I think I got what Chris was talking about. I think I got it. Like, it's like sci-fi is right there with fantasy. Like, it's like, it's borderline, like almost the same thing. It's like crossing that path. And I love fantasy so much. I think I got then I'm reading it and I'm like, okay, I don't got it yet, but I might get there. just, I'm not there yet.
00:02:59
Speaker
I'm almost there. But there were like, there were some of the stories that I really liked. But I just like, I just, I rape based on emotionally connecting to something. i just wasn't emotionally connecting to it. And that's all it was.
The Logic and Influence of 'I, Robot'
00:03:15
Speaker
Okay. That's fair. It's way outside of your comfort zone. Yeah. know yeah Lindsay, what did you think? So there were aspects of each story that I really enjoyed.
00:03:28
Speaker
All the way up until I got to the last story. And then it just... I dragged. I was struggling to finish it. No, that's fair. That's the worst one.
00:03:40
Speaker
With that being said, the some of the stories were like really nerve-wracking. I think it's Escape. That one really got me.
00:03:53
Speaker
But I had to give it two and a half Ethical Dilemmas. Okay. All right. So back to what I said. This is a five for me. Straight. this is This is a five. Me and Lindsay, both of ours together equal your rating. There we go. And I'm okay with that.
00:04:10
Speaker
This, for me, specifically for our month of mysteries, I love that each one of these short stories presents a problem that we have to solve. We have to solve it logically based on the rules that we're given. Yep.
00:04:23
Speaker
And that's, like, I love that. That's my favorite. Like, give me the boundaries that I'm working in. Send me the the rules of the world that we're living in, and and I'll find a way to get by.
00:04:33
Speaker
And that's kind of what this is. So every short story is its own problem from these robots, right? And so I really loved that. This also has influenced so much other sci-fi that this story carries on forever.
The Three Laws of Robotics
00:04:50
Speaker
It's referenced in Doctor Who, Star Trek, The Simpsons, Futurama, a billion shows. it's It constantly gets referred to the three laws of robotics. The introduction of the three laws of of robotics was Isaac Asimov's baby, um the positronic brain, which the androids in
00:05:10
Speaker
Star Trek have positronic brains. So like, this is like one of the basis of the building of the robot genre in general. And that's, you know, a part of why I love this, but that logic, that breaking apart of the story of the solving of the problems, that,
00:05:32
Speaker
it's just That's just my... that I love that. yeah i Honestly, whenever I was reading it, i was thinking of you while I was reading it and how you say that all the time, that like you like the rules.
00:05:45
Speaker
like You like when there's rules to the mystery. and I was thinking that this entire time as in like the three laws of robotics. And that was like the base of every single short story was these are the rules and the mystery is surrounding these rules and the problems with these rules and the robots.
00:06:06
Speaker
So let's just, I guess, jump right in. We'll talk about um more of this with full spoilers because it's going to be hard not
Adaptations: Book vs Movie
00:06:15
Speaker
to. I do want to start from the with some trigger warnings, some content warnings.
00:06:20
Speaker
Although the book itself doesn't have any like massive gore or anything, the movie does have suicide, has some a little bit of gore, definitely some violence, just some incredibly scary moments.
00:06:34
Speaker
if you're If you don't like high anxiety moments, you probably don't want to watch this movie. But I did watch it with my kid. He's five. It was not exactly the best parenting decision I've ever made, but he actually really loved it. So we're going with that. e g It's fine. Yeah, it's not that bad. It is seen starring Will Smith.
00:06:55
Speaker
In my mind, this is very much a Will Smith in his Bad Boys Men in Black era. So he basically played the same character. He always plays that irreverent cop detective, you know, kind of has that, that irreverent is really the best way to put it. That sassy attitude, street smart kind of guy.
00:07:24
Speaker
and and I liked that. So, The book, the stories were written between 1940 and 1950 and published in a series of scientific magazines, um a couple of different magazines.
00:07:39
Speaker
And the movie is a completely separate story from all of those stories. The movie is inspired by the, the, the seat the the short stories.
00:07:52
Speaker
It has a lot of the same character names and, It has the same three laws of robotics and it references some parts of the short stories, but for the most part is a standalone.
Emotional Bonds in 'Robbie'
00:08:06
Speaker
It is does not follow any of the short stories specifically, which I kind of loved. it It took that influence from from the short stories and and into the movie. And I really liked that.
00:08:20
Speaker
So I'm not really sure how we should do this episode. Honestly, like normally we would do a breakdown of the, of the movie and the book along the storyline, but I'm not sure that we can even do that.
00:08:34
Speaker
So I was thinking, unless you guys have a better idea, that I would do a quick rundown of the short of each short. And we could talk about each short and then we could move into the movie separately And talk about how that movie applied or how the movie, you know, took from the different short stories.
00:08:54
Speaker
Yeah. Sound okay? Okay. And I think this is the first time we've ever done one where the movie and the book is so completely different. that we can't really yeah i'm like thinking of like war the war the worlds or something but still it i mean it was completely different right and it kind of feels like the same thing where it's just taking like the concept right of it and then putting it in completely different story right but so let's just start with the three laws of robotics that's super important to every single one of the stories
00:09:27
Speaker
are The first law is that a robot cannot harm a human or through inaction allow a human to come to harm. These laws and that one in particular are embedded into every single positronic brain before a robot even comes out of the assembly. Like when they're born, turned on for the first time, these three laws are the most important part of what they know.
00:09:52
Speaker
They cannot exist without these three laws. So that first one is the most important, the highest one. Cannot harm a human or through an action allow a human to come to harm.
00:10:03
Speaker
The second law is the robot must follow any task given to or command given to it by a human unless it conflicts with the first law.
00:10:14
Speaker
And the third one is that that a robot must preserve its own existence unless that interferes with the first or second law. Right?
00:10:25
Speaker
So
Conflicts in 'Runaround'
00:10:26
Speaker
it can't kill a human or harm a human. It has to do what a human says and it has to preserve itself unless any of those laws cancel each other out.
00:10:37
Speaker
Now we come to find out through some of these short stories that the way in which you like the the immediacy of the way you tell or give a command to a robot carries some weight.
00:10:50
Speaker
So if you tell them go get a glass of water And they don't do it because, like, like they would have to shove someone out of the way in order to get there and they can't shove a human.
00:11:03
Speaker
But if you like scream, like, get me some water, like, so like you're dying without it, then they might shove a human out of the way to go get that water in order save your life. Right. So the, the weight behind your command does carry some weight with how those laws are interpreted within the the positronic brain of every robot. Yeah.
00:11:26
Speaker
So the book starts with a quick introduction of the of nameless like newspaper man, someone who works for a reporter of some kind, someone who works for the Galaxy to a Press or whatever. i can't remember what the thing was named, but he's interviewing Susan Calvin, who was the chief robot psychiatrist, robo psychiatrist for United States Robots and Mechanical Men.
00:11:55
Speaker
It's the year 2057, and she is 75 years old and about to retire. He's trying to get her to tell him some stories about her life. And each one of the short stories is a story that either she tells or she tells him to go find someone else to tell him the story.
00:12:16
Speaker
So the first story is called Robbie. This was like my favorite one or one of my favorites. I when I read this one again, because I read this. I've read this a thousand times. I have a first edition copy that is like my prized possession that i like I didn't even use that. Like i I bought myself a paperback to read instead of messing up my my my beautiful first edition.
00:12:43
Speaker
This is one of my favorite books. So I've read this a thousand times. But rereading this story again, like with you guys in mind, I was like, oh, Carrie's going to like this one. This one might actually make Carrie tear up. like I love this one. This is a good one. like in the I mean, I know we're not going to talk about the movie later,
00:13:00
Speaker
but i like I like that. i like i That's what always will get me is like a character driven type story or like any type of like motion connection emotional connection in a story that I'll have to the characters.
00:13:15
Speaker
Yeah. And I felt that way with the Sunny character in iRobot. Right. and Because I just found the whole concept so interesting. Mm-hmm.
00:13:27
Speaker
And, like, I had never seen it before and, like, the twists in it. I was like, oh my god, I can't believe this. Like, I was, like, freaking out the whole time. And I kind of felt that with this.
00:13:40
Speaker
With Robbie and Gloria. With Robbie and yeah Gloria where they had this like like, it felt, I don't want to say innocent. like right It was really innocent. and and so It was tender and sweet.
00:13:54
Speaker
But also these robots are scary. yeah Right. Okay. So this the year is 1998. Now, okay. So again, these stories were written in 1940, 1950. where these are set when they were written was the future. Obviously to us, it's the past. But and so this one's set in 1998, fake future 1998, where there were giant robots.
00:14:17
Speaker
These were still the early days of robots. They were all huge, right? Like, and eight, nine, 10 feet tall and and bulky. And they couldn't speak.
00:14:29
Speaker
They had not created the bellows that would create the voice of a robot. So Robbie can't speak. And he's one of the first household robots. And he lives with a family named the Westons. And he is basically some like a nursemaid or a um nanny to their eight-year-old daughter, Gloria.
00:14:53
Speaker
Gloria is precocious, and but she loves Robbie. like They play hide and seek together. She tells Robbie stories, and Robbie loves to hear them. In fact, like when she gets mad at Robbie, she tells him, I'm not going to tell you any more stories. And Robbie pouts.
00:15:08
Speaker
And in like the only way he can, because again, he doesn't have a voice, he slumps his shoulders. He's like he's super expressive yeah without the use of a voice.
00:15:23
Speaker
And he gets really excited when Gloria, you know, promises to to to play with him or to do things with him. and He knows to kind of be scared of Mrs. Weston because she doesn't necessarily like having a robot in the house. She doesn't trust this.
00:15:37
Speaker
He really loves Mr. Weston because Mr. Weston is just happy as long as his kid's happy. You know, it's a very
Challenges in 'Reason' and 'Catch That Rabbit'
00:15:44
Speaker
sweet, innocent relationship between Robbie and Gloria.
00:15:49
Speaker
But Mrs. Weston, of course, says we got to get rid of this robot. Like the neighbors are talking. He's not safe. He could hurt our daughter. Why can't she just be a normal kid and have a puppy or, you know, like whatever? get we got to get rid of this robot. And finally, Mr. Weston is worn down and they get rid of the robot.
00:16:07
Speaker
Gloria falls into a depression. She won't eat. She's hardly speaking to her parents. She's pouting all the time. She won't come out of her room. And Mrs. Weston gets it in her head that we'll go to, we'll we'll take her to New York. We'll spend a month in New York. We'll all go together New York City.
00:16:25
Speaker
And, that you know, we'll just, we'll take her to see all the sites and we'll take her mind off of everything. And of course it doesn't. Like she goes, but in her sweet little eight-year-old mind, she thinks they're going to New York City to look for Robbie. Right.
00:16:41
Speaker
And she tells her parents, like, I know why we're really going. We're going to look for Robbie. And of course, they say, no, we're not. Like, we're just going to York. We're going to do all the things. They go to the zoo. They go to the museums. They go on tours. They they do all the stuff.
00:16:54
Speaker
And at one point, they're touring a museum and they have an exhibit of a talking robot. And Gloria sneaks away from her parents to go see this talking robot, the first one of the first ever talking robots. And it's not a robot the way she knows a robot, right? It's just this big giant computer, basically, that takes up a whole room,
00:17:15
Speaker
you know, and that can compute answers to some questions. And she kind of breaks the robot asking it questions like, do you know where Robbie is? He's a a robot like you.
00:17:30
Speaker
and of course, this talking robot has never contemplated its own existence. Then there might be others like him. so the robot kind of starts to fizzle out and crash just as her parents find her and say, where have you been? Why did you run off? And they take her out of there.
00:17:44
Speaker
Mrs. Weston has herself a nice little snit fit. What are we going to do about this kid? Mr. Weston says, I have an idea. Let's go tour the robot factory. and that way she will see they're just machines. There's no way this guy could have been your friend. He's just a machine.
00:18:01
Speaker
And so they go tour the factory. and they get into one room where Gloria sees a bunch of robots that look like robots like she knows them to be.
00:18:13
Speaker
And across the room, she spots who she knows is Robbie. And she goes running over the guardrail and almost gets smashed by some sort of tractor forklift thing.
00:18:24
Speaker
But of course, Robbie saves her last minute. h And the the mom is like, turns to the dad and is like, you planned this. You knew he would be. You arranged for him to be here. And he's like, well, I didn't know it was going to be this dramatic. But- And I think there's like a comment or something about how the forklift or something is driven by a human.
00:18:46
Speaker
h And Robbie is able to save her fast enough because the human's reaction isn't fast enough to stop it. But the robot's reaction is enough to save her. And there's like a comment about that.
00:19:02
Speaker
There's also the comment about since bringing on the robots, there haven't been any incidents. There haven't been any accidents. since but This particular part of the factory is fully roboticized.
00:19:14
Speaker
And there have been no accidents. But because of the labor unions, they can't fully roboticize and automate the entire plant. Sound familiar, folks? Yeah.
00:19:25
Speaker
I mean, honestly, ah watching the movie and reading this, I'm like... This is very interesting. That's a hidden part of why I wanted to read this. It's so relevant to today. Also, ki and sitting here watching the movie, it's, what is it, set in Chicago of 2035? Chicago 2035. I was like, oh, we only got four years.
00:19:46
Speaker
Ten years. where Where's my robot? Yeah. My housemaid. Yeah. We're going to robots charging in the other room. Right. So, of course, Robbie ends up going home with the Westins.
00:19:58
Speaker
And although we don't know for certain, because robots were banned on Earth not long after that, like five or six years after that, Robbie probably did have to be taken away from Gloria again. But at that point, she was probably older and would have understood. At least that's what they say in the story. We don't know for sure. Nobody went and asked her.
00:20:19
Speaker
The next short story... Nobody went and asked I feel like why didn't, like, as a reporter hearing this story, i would have tried to go find Gloria. Right? Like, if you're a reporter reporting this story, wouldn't you have gone to find Gloria and follow up on it and be like, whatever happened to you to Robbie?
00:20:37
Speaker
Who's telling this story to the reporter? Susan Calvin. is it Okay. Susan's telling this story to him. Okay. Um...
00:20:48
Speaker
So the next short is called Runaround. It's supposed to be set in 2015. So the fake future 2015 that's actually 10 years ago.
00:21:00
Speaker
This is the hard part. I wrote down all these dates. Yeah. going to mess this up.
Chaos in 'Liar'
00:21:05
Speaker
And this story is set on Mercury. Mercury. Following two scientists, Powell and Donovan, they work for U.S. Robotics and they kind of like are the beta testers of like all the new robot robot models.
00:21:21
Speaker
Right. And they're on a mining colony in Mercury that had failed the first time around. But they're there with a new model robot to try and see if they can get this min mining colony operational.
00:21:34
Speaker
And this robot is called Speedy. And they so it's SPD-34, but speedy. They send him out to a selenium pool to go get some selenium to power, I guess, their generators or some something to to keep the the power going.
00:21:55
Speaker
And they know without that selenium, the station's not going to survive. They're not going to survive. So they send Speedy out to get it. It's 17 miles away, but he's Speedy. He's like legit. He's super fast.
00:22:08
Speaker
So they realize he hasn't come back yet and they, they track him and they can see that he's like making circles. So they have to figure out how to get him to come back. They can't reach him by radio because that's on the sunny side of Mercury, which means it would,
00:22:28
Speaker
fry them. They don't have good radio signal unless it's short radio, but they can't go out there to him because they would die. and So they try to get the old robots to help them, but the old robots can't move without a human rider because it was back, they were created back when like 10 years prior when they didn't have, they didn't trust robots a lot. So like the only way that they would let robots move around is if they had a human handler.
00:22:57
Speaker
So That part made me laugh. I was like. Yeah. Can you imagine riding this giant robot down the street? like Like I was trying to picture like. Oh my gosh. Like what would be like a comparable like.
00:23:12
Speaker
From a movie or something. I have no idea. Like I was trying to think of something from like.
00:23:20
Speaker
I'm going to get roasted for this. Like I was trying to think of something from like Star Wars or something. No, like I get it. Like, cause it's hard to imagine what these would have looked like as big Big and like Iron Giant.
00:23:30
Speaker
Yeah. That's kind of what I'm picturing. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. But they're like huge. They're like 10 feet tall and they have to like bend way down for them to climb up on them. And like their ears are long enough for them to use as like handles.
00:23:45
Speaker
Yeah. um And they go really slow because again, They were supposed to be safe. So the idea was slow and never without a human. Right.
00:23:57
Speaker
So they get out there. And again, they know that Speedy is operating under the first three laws. And they realize that this particular section of Mercury is full of carbon, like they've sent him out to the selenium pool that has a pocket of carbon monoxide gas.
00:24:12
Speaker
And the carbon monoxide gas is going to rust the iron in Speedy immediately. And Speedy realizes that. So when he gets there close enough, the third law kicks in, he has to preserve himself.
00:24:25
Speaker
But then when he starts to walk away, he Like the second law takes over that he was commanded by a human. He has to follow that command. So he starts to go back. But then he realizes he's in danger and the third law kicks in and he keeps doing this loop.
00:24:41
Speaker
And when they finally catch up with him to try and order him to come back. He's speaking in riddles. He's speaking in Gilbert and Sullivan like songs and riddles.
00:24:54
Speaker
And he's act he's limping and he's acting drunk. And they're like, he's drunk, he's drunk. And they figure out that it's because he has reached that point in his brain where one law is overriding the other. and then it overrides the other. And then it overrides that back and forth. And it's caused a break in his synapses.
00:25:13
Speaker
Yeah. I like that theme. like I like that that's the theme throughout all these stories. is like Basically, there's like a glitch in the system. And how do we figure out that glitch in the system?
00:25:29
Speaker
and whenever you encounter it how are you going to fix it? Or how are you what are you going to do about it?
Identity in 'Lost Little Robot' and 'Escape'
00:25:35
Speaker
And that's kind of how in the movie is, too. Every one of these rules was not...
00:25:42
Speaker
broken The robots did exactly what they were supposed to do every yeah time. It was the humans who didn't interpret the the situation the same way the robot did.
00:25:55
Speaker
was the human who gave a bad command. It was the human who... didn't have all the information before they gave the command. It was the humans. but So like really through each one of these robots are doing exactly what they're designed to do. Well, glitch in their own theory, I guess. Exactly. Exactly. So it was their own laws. It was their own rules. Cause like the humans wrote the three laws.
00:26:16
Speaker
You know what i mean? The humans are the ones who programmed the three laws into every single robot. So they finally figure out that the only way to get speedy to, snap out of this weird bounce between the second and the third laws is to force the first law on him.
00:26:36
Speaker
Make sure that one of them is in danger enough that Speedy has to act. Because again, that first law says, or through inaction, allow a human to come to harm. So one of the humans, and I don't remember which one, Powell or Donovan, wanders out into the sun, into the bright Mercury sun,
00:26:54
Speaker
To the point where he's only got a couple minutes left before the isosuit that he's wearing is not going to work. And he'll get fried. And right about that moment, when he thinks Speedy might be figuring it out, the big giant lumbering hulking old robot...
00:27:12
Speaker
breaks the rule of not having him he's like excuse me master i'm sorry i know i'm not supposed to move but you are in harm and like you are in danger and he starts lumbering towards him he's like no no go back i need speedy to save me and of course speedy does save him and they get back and everything is fine the end the end But not the end of Powell and Donovan. And I do love that all of these short stories are connected.
00:27:41
Speaker
So that's what I was going to say. yeah You can read each one on its own and it'll make sense. But reading them together makes this beautiful story. So the next one is called Reason.
00:27:55
Speaker
And this one might be one of my favorites. Yeah. It is Powell and Donovan again. They are on a space station. It's six months later. 2015, 2016, it doesn't say for sure. Just as six months later, um they're on a space station trying to set up the
00:28:21
Speaker
oh, what's it called?
00:28:24
Speaker
my brain just oh i can't think i can't i didn't like this story oh i love this one yeah this was probably one of my least favorite ones this is like my second least favorite lindsey and i are like we honestly just left our brains after we read it to the yeah Don't rely on us for this.
00:28:44
Speaker
i mean, this is the robot named Cutie, right? Yeah. u just like that run My notes are Cutie creates a new religion for... That's literally my note.
00:28:55
Speaker
So so that's so they're they're trying to like get some sort of beam, right? They're catching beams and sending these beams back to Earth, right? yeah And Cutie is a new model that they've sent out to the space station and they are trying to Basically, they're trying to fully automate the space station, right? Because, again, they can't use the robots on Earth yet. So everything is out in space.
00:29:22
Speaker
And QT, they put together the robot on the space station, right? They mail it like because, again, can't have them. Can't have robots on Earth.
00:29:33
Speaker
So they mail them out piecemeal to these space stations. And Donovan and Powell put this robot together. And it's a couple of weeks later and the robot is like questioning its existence.
00:29:47
Speaker
and And they're like, we built you two weeks ago. QT's like, how? I'm clearly far superior to you.
00:29:58
Speaker
hey And he basically can like takes a couple of days to think it over. and And comes to the conclusion that he is created at to serve the master. And the master is basically like the main computer of the space station.
00:30:18
Speaker
And that all the other robots that are there are there to serve this computer, this main computer thing. And QT is the prophet. And he convinces all the other robots on the space station to like serve him to like we we serve the master, the master's the mainframe and they don't take orders from the humans anymore. And they basically lock up Powell and Donovan in their offices and they're like, don't come down here.
00:30:43
Speaker
Don't don't do it. Not the Messiah. He's a very naughty robot. it such a He really was. But I kind of love it.
Politics and Society in 'Evidence' and 'The Inevitable Conflict'
00:30:52
Speaker
Because really, if you stop and think again, they designed this robot to only do this one task, to only do this one thing, to be the absolute best at it.
00:31:05
Speaker
And so what was the robot supposed to think? Like, it's not on Earth. And they're like, you came from Earth. And he's like, what's Earth? Like, what do you mean? And they they're like, it's out there. Look at the stars. Look at the, you know, and he's like, that's just some sort of black, like, cloth or substance out there with sparkles on it. Doesn't it say like whenever they're trying to explain what Earth is or like how the robot was created, they're like, yeah, just like read these books and like you'll understand. They're like, that's the what the master created so that you would think that way. would But that's not actually how it is.
00:31:41
Speaker
Yep. I love it. And at one point and i oh I should have marked it and I didn't. But there's one line towards the end of the story where they're basically like, you know.
00:31:54
Speaker
you can't You can't let him keep thinking this. You have to reason with him. You have to figure it out. And they're basically like you know, you can you can come to any conclusion if you will only listen to your own reason.
00:32:14
Speaker
If you're unwilling to listen to any other reason. And I really loved that. It was basically like, i mean... welcome to United States 2025 folks. Like, you know, it just really kind of struck me because that's basically what the story is, is that QT is unwilling to accept any new evidence or information other than what he already knows to be true, which is what he can touch and see and feel.
00:32:42
Speaker
And even he, he doubts some of it if it doesn't fit the narrative he's already made for himself. So yeah, yeah we I just feel like we see that a lot anyways. So yeah,
00:32:54
Speaker
Our next story is Catch That Rabbit. It's at around 2016-ish. It is a, they're on the asteroid mining, again with Donovan and Powell, and they have Dave now.
00:33:10
Speaker
Dave is a multi-robot. It's one robot that controls six other robots, and they call it a hand in his six fingers, kind of, right?
00:33:22
Speaker
And what's happening is every time they see Dave, they they they're they're there to observe Dave, right? He does fine. Him and his his six ah there's six other robots, like, they they do exactly what they're supposed to do. They mine. But the minute they're not being observed, they do these weird random dances. They do this, like...
00:33:50
Speaker
I don't know. It's a very hard thing to explain, but, but they don't do what they're supposed to be doing and they can't figure out why. And when they asked Dave about it, like, why aren't you, what happened there? He's like, I don't remember boss.
00:34:02
Speaker
I really don't know what happened. One minute we were mining and the next minute I was sitting here and you were asking me what was going on.
'I, Robot' Movie Analysis
00:34:11
Speaker
Come to find out that. Dave's positronic pathways anytime there was any sort of crisis would become overwhelmed trying to control all six of the other robots.
00:34:25
Speaker
But it took them a long time figuring that out, including a cave-in. That they created themselves. That they created themselves. And trapped themselves in yeah You know, Donovan and Powell just get lucky a lot. There's no denying them.
00:34:41
Speaker
But now we're back on Earth with Dr. Susan Calvin in the short story called Liar. And this one, i like this one. I was to say, this one reminded me of Carrie.
00:34:53
Speaker
was like, this is going to be favorite because I'm reading it. And, and I was reading it today because I read this last minute, just like Carrie.
00:35:05
Speaker
And I'm not going to feel bad because Lindsay didn't watch the movie today and or until today either. So we all waited until last minute on this one. But I was reading this today and I almost like messaged you that like, oh my God, I bet you loved Herbie, didn't you?
00:35:18
Speaker
But kept mouth shut. but I wasn't sure if you had read it yet because I knew you were waiting to the last minute too. Okay. so Herbie, something happened in the manufacturing of Herbie and it's 2021. the fake future that was just four years ago.
00:35:40
Speaker
yeah and And they're at the factory, at the U.S. Robots factory. And it's Dr. Calvin and Dr. Lanning, Alfred Lanning, and then a couple other people that i can't remember, Ash, somebody, whatever.
00:35:56
Speaker
And basically, they have...
00:36:01
Speaker
accidentally created a robot that can read minds. They don't know how they created this. Something happened during his manufacturing of his positronic brain that caused, they think the positronic brain field to be able to read thoughts and they don't know exactly how it works or why it happened. And so they either want to figure out exactly how it happened so that they can duplicate it because that's a moneymaker Or they want to make sure that never happens again. They're not sure yet.
00:36:33
Speaker
Well, Herbie has decided that he doesn't really like.
00:36:40
Speaker
like nonfiction books, like educational materials. They keep bringing him like physics books and math books and robotics books and stuff. And he doesn't really care about that. He wants to read novels.
00:36:52
Speaker
He loves the emotional workings of people's brains and like what better to read at that point than novels. And because this was in 2021, I like to think he was reading ACOTAR.
00:37:08
Speaker
But maybe, Herbie is under the strict care of Dr. Calvin. And she asks, like, talks to him.
00:37:20
Speaker
And Herbie has told Dr. Calvin, like, I know you have a crush on Ash. Also, I want to know, believe that this is the first short story that we're actually getting Dr. Calvin's personal experience. Yes.
00:37:39
Speaker
Yes, we've heard people mention her in but in the other stories and she comes off as kind of cold, almost robotic herself. um She's grumpy. People don't really like her. She's plain looking. She's she's just kind of into a lot of people like they recognize that she's super smart, but they don't really want to deal with her, you know?
00:38:02
Speaker
um And they talk about how she deals better with robots than she does with humans. And so she is the robot psychologist that's alone with Herbie. And she's just like, nobody else sees him.
Will Smith's Performance and Key Scenes
00:38:15
Speaker
Right.
00:38:16
Speaker
And Herbie says to her, like, I know that you have a crush on Ash, the other guy who is like the math main mathematician at the time. And she's like, we don't need to talk about that. That's not,
00:38:31
Speaker
for us to discuss. He was like, no, I want to know. And it's right in the fourth out of your mind. I can't not talk talk to you about it when you're thinking so much about it. She's like, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. And he was like, but he likes you too. And she's like, don't tell me that I've heard what he says about you. She's like, no he was here with another girl not long ago. That was his cousin. He's you. you think He wants someone smart and intelligent.
00:38:54
Speaker
So now Dr. Calvin is like, oh shit. So she starts wearing makeup and stuff and like hanging out with Ash a little more. And then this other... oh shoot. What was his name?
00:39:04
Speaker
That character's name. Not Dorsey. don't have it written down. Anyways. um So he comes in and he's all like, hey, can you help me with this math problem? Dr. Calvin says you're good at math.
00:39:17
Speaker
And Herbie's like, oh, I'm all right with math. Let me look at it. No, yeah, your your math is fine. Your math is great. And he's like, that's what I was trying to tell the doctor the other doctor. That's what was trying to tell Dr. Lanning. And he was like, oh, yeah, that Dr. Lanning. And he's like, I wonder if he's going to resign or retire soon. And Herbie was like, maybe. Maybe.
00:39:40
Speaker
i mean I really thought this story was actually going to turn out to be possibly unreliable narrator. thought so too. And then the robot wasn't actually reading their minds, but was just like really perceptive and could figure out what they were thinking without actually reading their minds.
00:39:57
Speaker
Well, I thought that it was just going to be that Herbie was a troublemaker in like drama. Yeah. Well, that's not the queen, if you will. Yeah, exactly. He'd been reading these novels. He was going to create his own story. If you're lock him in this room, he's going to be in his own entertainment. Yeah. Well, the fact that he knew that Calvin liked Ash, like, and then started the drama.
00:40:16
Speaker
Right. He didn't have to read her mind. He could tell because, you know, maybe she was looking at him too long or flashing him googly eyes. Giving off the vibes. Right.
00:40:27
Speaker
But it turns out Herbie was actually following the three lots. Right. He wasn't supposed to lie, but he also wasn't supposed to hurt anybody. And because he could tell what you were feeling, he knew what would hurt your feelings.
00:40:43
Speaker
actually love this reveal. Yeah. like Because it actually gave me like like chills for a second because I was like, that makes complete sense. like if If a robot could read your mind...
00:40:57
Speaker
That wasn't allowed to hurt your feelings. And it wasn't allowed to hurt your feelings because that is a very valid thing that could hurt a human. And so he had just been telling everybody what they wanted to hear. Which, of course, caused significant drama.
00:41:13
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And Dr. Calvin, in a rare fit of temper... literally mentally crushes this robot and causes this robot to ah ah mentally break yeah like breaks its positive heart and brain by like throwing the never-ending scenario of you can't lie but you can't hurt but you can't lie but you can't hurt but you can't lie if you do it then you'll you're lying but if you don't do it you're hurting us it like
00:41:45
Speaker
And like just like backs it into a corner and mentally breaks this robot. And Dr. Lanning and what's his face are just standing there like, holy shit.
00:41:56
Speaker
h And that was that. That was that. I like that one. That one was intense. as At first I was like, oh, but no.
00:42:07
Speaker
So then the next one is Lost Little Robot. It's set in 2029. Yeah.
00:42:13
Speaker
This is the one that most closely resembles the the movie. I liked this one. This is a good one. This one is a little kind of scary, but but a good one.
00:42:27
Speaker
So this one is set on hyper base. Well, kind of scary in the movie a little bit. Oh, it's very scary in the movie. did not like, like, honestly, this is the one where the hiding one, right?
00:42:39
Speaker
Yeah. Where the whole scene of the that robot hiding in the movie, I was a little scared. no, that was creepy. I'm not going lie. So on this one, they're on the hyperbase designing hyperdrive, but the hyperbase is full of gamma radiation.
00:42:54
Speaker
And gamma radiation is dangerous to humans. So when the human miners or scientists or whatever, engineers, whatever they're doing there, would go into areas that might have gamma radiation, but they were going to be there for an acceptable, like an amount of time that wouldn't have hurt them. Like they're just walking through the area to get to something they need and then coming back, you know, a reasonable amount of exposure.
00:43:19
Speaker
But the robots would be like, you're in danger. And they would just come snatch them out and not let the humans do their jobs. So giant huge government secret.
00:43:31
Speaker
They decided to engineer robots that only had a partial first law. You cannot harm a human. But it didn't say anything about through inaction, allow a human to come. That part was left out. Just you cannot directly harm a human.
00:43:49
Speaker
And of course,
00:43:53
Speaker
what ends up happening is one of the engineer people who works there gets frustrated with one of the robots and says, get lost to the robot. And because this robot has to do what the human says...
00:44:09
Speaker
He goes and loses himself by hiding with a whole bunch of other robots that have not been modified. yeah They have the true first three laws or or three laws of robotics.
00:44:20
Speaker
So there's one robot hiding amongst all of them and they have to do all these tests to try to figure out which one is the one that's had the modified three laws because they can't have that getting loose, right?
00:44:35
Speaker
And it really is a whole bunch of different experiments. And this robot is designed to do exactly what it's told. And it doesn't have any compulsion to potentially be lying to humans because nowhere in there does it say anything about don't lie to a human. Yeah. Just says don't harm a human.
00:44:52
Speaker
Right. So he's just he's he's hiding amongst all the other robots and he's doing a really good job of it. um They eventually do figure it out and they have and.
00:45:04
Speaker
Because the robot is still trying so hard to prove his superiority and follow that command to get lost, when he eventually gets found, he starts to snap and he tries to kill Dr. Calvin.
00:45:18
Speaker
And they quickly flush the area with gamma radiation, which fries the positronic brain of that robot. But it was short enough exposure that Dr. Calvin was okay.
00:45:31
Speaker
Okay, we only have three more. um Escape was...
00:45:38
Speaker
only have brown and ship wrote on there. Oh, brain and ship. Okay. i was like, what does brown mean?
00:45:46
Speaker
So, escape is... My favorite. It's a really good one. Do you want to tell this one if you like it? No, you want me to? I mean, I will. I've got it. I just I just wrote like you said, I wrote the brain and Donovan and Powell.
00:46:02
Speaker
Yeah. So so we have Donovan and Powell and Dr. Lanning and dr Calvin and like everybody's involved because basically one of the U.S. robots competitors has what they think are the formulations to create this hyperdrive ship, right? and But when they fed it to their supercomputer, the supercomputer basically snapped. And so they figure what happened is there was something in the calculation that potentially could have harmed a human.
00:46:35
Speaker
And so that computer... just fried itself rather than do that, I guess. um And so they've come to u s robots and said, will you feed this to your supercomputer and see what your supercomputer can come up with? We'll pay you for the answer. And they were like, maybe. So they feed it to their supercomputer. Now their supercomputer is called the brain.
00:46:57
Speaker
And the way they've designed designed of the brain is to be childlike, to be curious, to not take things quite so seriously, to be a little innocent.
00:47:11
Speaker
And they decide they're going to feed this equation to the brain now. In pieces. And they explain to the brain right off the bat, if one of these causes you to any concern, then we're going to stop.
00:47:30
Speaker
But we're not so worried about whether or not it's going to kill anybody. Don't worry about human death. We're just trying to see if it's possible. Right? and so they're Because they're trying to keep the brain calm because they know that they could fry their own supercomputer.
00:47:48
Speaker
But they feed it to the brain nice and easy, nice and slow. And at the very end, they get to the last page and the brain hasn't stopped yet. And so they're like, what are you still okay?
00:48:00
Speaker
And the brain's like, yeah, I can do this. I can i can build you this ship. And so they have the brain build this ship. All the while, Susan, calvin Dr. Calvin is like, something's not right. Like nobody talks to the brain but me. Yeah.
00:48:13
Speaker
If it killed the other computer and this computer saying, no, it's fine, then something's wrong. And she's real smart at this point. Everybody's kind of listening to her. So she hangs out with the brain.
00:48:26
Speaker
The brain's, you know, like controlling or telling these other robots the plans and getting them to build this ship. And of course they bring in Donovan and Powell because they're the beta testers for all the new fun stuff.
00:48:38
Speaker
And they complete the ship. And Donovan and Powell are like, well, can we take a look? And they get on board and they're looking around and they're like, the this ship isn't going anywhere. There's no like cockpit or driver's seat. There's no control panel. There's like,
00:48:56
Speaker
what what it this That brain's lost it. It snapped. There's no engine. There's no engine. And so they they go to get off and they realize, oh shit, we're already in space.
00:49:09
Speaker
oh Because the brain just was like, well, they were on board and everything was done, so out you go.
00:49:18
Speaker
And then they end up basically but they do die, but They die because I guess in order to make the hyper jump, like they no longer exist, but they come out the other side existing again.
00:49:31
Speaker
So technically they die, but they come back to life. And, and which is why they, the original computer did snap because death human humans died.
00:49:44
Speaker
That's a problem. Whatever. But because when they originally told the brain, we're not really worried about that right now. We just want to see if it's possible. And they made it sound like it wasn't that big of a deal.
00:49:55
Speaker
The brain was able to actually go ahead and go through the entire process and and get it finished. So... Yeah. Also, the brain was slightly snapped by it, like a little, and started using humor as a coping mechanism.
00:50:12
Speaker
And so some of the things that happen on the ship when it goes to hyperdrive, like they had plenty of food, um but it was all beans and milk. And milk. Beans and milk.
00:50:24
Speaker
And like, they had everything they needed except for no showers. And when they died... ah The brain took some liberties playing some different audio and visual stimuli that were probably not very comfortable for Donovan and Powell to experience while they were dying.
00:50:44
Speaker
So oh they also they also had the the, like Dr. Calvin could communicate with them. but Right, but they couldn't communicate back.
00:50:55
Speaker
yeah there There were a lot of like, the brain was a prankster. Yeah. it was It was very funny, but probably not funny if you were fewer Donovan and Powell.
00:51:07
Speaker
Lindsay's like, this one's my favorite. It caused me so much anxiety. I loved it. Oh my gosh. made you feel things. ah That's exactly how I am. like The more I feel for it, yeah whether it's like I'm like anxious about it or like scared or whatever, that makes me rate it higher.
00:51:30
Speaker
Because like I feel more about it. Yeah. So I think it's funny that we all three kind of don't like the last one as much. But let me tell the the one before that. So the next one is called Evidence.
00:51:43
Speaker
It is the story being told by Dr. Susan Kelvin about district attorney. who then becomes mayor, who then becomes, I don't know, galactic president, something, Stephen Byerly.
00:51:56
Speaker
And Stephen Byerly, as he's running for mayor, is being accused of being a robot. and All because he nobody's ever seen him eat in public.
00:52:09
Speaker
And then they're like, and we don't think he sleeps either. And we don't and so basically his competition is trying to accuse him of this to get him to drop out of the race. And they go to US robots and say, can you prove to us that you didn't build this robot?
00:52:25
Speaker
Like, he's not a robot. Like, and if he is a robot, and then it's obviously one of yours because you're the only ones who make positronic brain robots. And so Dr. Lanning goes to...
00:52:36
Speaker
Stephen Byerly and says, hey, just do me a favor and eat a meal in public, would you? like This honestly makes me think of like the things that we accuse that is AI. This reminds me so much of Black Mirror, if you guys have ever watched that on Netflix. A lot of these short stories kind of remind me of that.
00:52:52
Speaker
And it starts to creep me out after a while because like yeah there really is so much, the the things that we accuse people of if we're not paying attention, if we're not, you know, and here's this guy who's just trying to run for office.
00:53:06
Speaker
And, and now you want to tell me that I have to prove that I can eat. Like that's the dumbest thing ever. Right. And of course, Dr. Calvin has an apple in her purse and, and he's like,
00:53:20
Speaker
he takes a bite of the apple and he's like why do i have to do this in public you guys are watching me eat this right now and you know and dr landing's like well can't you do that in public he's like it doesn't prove anything though because if i was a robot that was trying to pass as a human then i would have thought of this and i would have had a way to eat something like it it proves nothing you know and so he basically insists that he's not going to take any tests he's not going to do any sort of you know He's not going to bend to every little accusation, especially something so just off the wall like I'm a robot.
00:53:58
Speaker
And it turns out that he has companion who is wheelchair bound. And we find out that that person was in a horrible car accident. And so what the story is that's being spread is that the person that's in the wheelchair is actually Stephen Byerly, who was i mean it super smart scientist guy.
00:54:20
Speaker
And when he was in a car accident, realized he couldn't, he could no longer be a lawyer. He could no longer do the public any good. He created a robot to do it for him and to continue his life.
00:54:31
Speaker
So that's the accusation. and Eventually, like the public fever pitch, you know, gets so high that Stephen decides he's going to have a press conference and do this live speech.
00:54:46
Speaker
And he does this he orchestrates this huge public thing where he's going to do his speech. And someone says, like, you know, punch me. If you're a robot, you can't hurt a human. You can't break the three laws.
00:54:59
Speaker
Punch me. And so Stephen punches him and then says, I'm sorry. i like, said, make sure he goes inside and and we'll have him taken care I talk to him when I'm done. And then he gives a speech and that's that.
00:55:13
Speaker
And apparently the time, Susan Galvin was in the crowd and like some reporters kind of like went to chase after her as she was leaving. and they said, what's the verdict? What's the verdict? And she says, not a robot or something like that and leaves off.
00:55:28
Speaker
But she kind of alludes to the fact, like back in present day, when she's talking to the reporter now, she kind of alludes to the fact that maybe he was. There's, you know, he could have orchestrated that whole thing and not actually punched a human, but just punched another robot for all we know.
00:55:44
Speaker
yeah she said that she went back and spoke to Byerly and even said that to him. Yep. And I kind of really loved this. i I really loved that.
00:55:56
Speaker
She says, you know, i kind of hope he was a robot. Because robots have to do those three laws. And if our politicians were held accountable to those three laws, we'd live in a better world.
00:56:09
Speaker
And I really, i really liked that. I really liked that she kind of, you know, I'm not going to sit here and say, I want robot for president. I don't know any good robot. i don't know any robots.
00:56:21
Speaker
Like my Roomba, you know, Roomba for president. Yeah.
00:56:28
Speaker
but for country No, i don't want no robots for president. I mean, i don't know. But so then we get we go to 2052, which is the last short story. And it's the inevitable conflict.
00:56:43
Speaker
This was written really dryly. I understand why we didn't necessarily like it. But I love that this is the inevitable conflict. And the inevitable conflict is that the robots aren't doing, the computers aren't computing right.
00:56:57
Speaker
The output numbers that we're getting across the world are different from what they predicted they would be. So the robots, something must be wrong. Something must be wrong. And come to find out that nothing's wrong. The robots are like these massive computers that are controlling the different sections of the planet regions are...
00:57:19
Speaker
purposefully being a little bit off so that we continue to rely on them because they know that our survival depends on them us relying on them. And if we ever thought that we didn't need them anymore, we'd get rid of them and put ourselves in danger. And because of the first law, they can't allow us to put ourselves in danger.
00:57:38
Speaker
So they have orchestrated a life in which they're never going to be perfect because they need us to continue to rely on them to strive for that perfection. Yeah. And i I just, I think that is, that' I hate that they call it the inevitable conflict. I wish they would have just called it the inevitable outcome.
00:57:58
Speaker
Because that is the inevitable outcome of the three laws. Unless you're watching the movie. You guys, we've only got 20 minutes to cover this whole movie.
00:58:09
Speaker
Will Smith, robots. Honestly. I have so much to say you about the movie, though. Okay. Okay. Wait, did you both not like the movie?
00:58:23
Speaker
No, I liked the movie. I thought it was really good. Okay, okay. I wasn't sure. I was like, watch them, like, love the book, hate the movie. Me, not loving the book. i I just kind of knew you wouldn't love the book. I i knew that.
00:58:38
Speaker
But I knew, like, parts of it. I was... Whenever watched the movie... I was really ready to like really like the book. I'm not going to lie. That's fair. Because i really loved the movie a lot. Like, I was like, I don't want to want, like, this movie, I feel like I'm not going like this movie.
00:58:55
Speaker
And then I was like, oh, this is interesting. i was like, oh, I'm invested. invested in this whole plot. And it's a great mystery because they do drop like, okay, so one of the things just gonna, okay. So movie, 2035.
00:59:11
Speaker
Will Smith is putting on some Chuck Taylors and we get to see his butt. I was waiting for a Carrie. Oh my gosh. I was screaming. Is that Will Smith's butt?
00:59:23
Speaker
Is that Will Smith's ass? That's my, where's his shower Where's his shower curtain? Honestly. But that was my first note is that Will Smith's butt.
00:59:35
Speaker
And then he goes to visit his grandma Gigi. And then he's walking down the street, just eating a pie, just eating a pie. What's deal with sugar? ah Through the whole movie. He loves sugar.
00:59:49
Speaker
My theory is, and maybe they didn't spell, they didn't spell this out in the movie and it's definitely not in the book, but that because we find out that he has, um a prosthetic arm that is robotic.
01:00:01
Speaker
I'm not giving it any way. It doesn't really change the story at all, but because we find out that he has the the robot arm, I think that maybe like he needs more sugar for the positronic relays or something. don't know, but there was so much sugar in. I thought I missed something.
01:00:16
Speaker
Yeah. Um, And this Spooner character, that's his name, Spooner, is not in this, any of the short stories. And I was hoping that I'd get like a little like, like, because dr Or Susan Calvin is yeah in the movie. The character is.
01:00:36
Speaker
It wasn't giving me the same vibe of what's in in these short stories, in my opinion. But I mean, the names are the same. I'll just say that. that's That's really it. is Some of the names are the same.
01:00:46
Speaker
Like the the chief um um the CEO of U.S. Robotics. Well, it was U.S. Robotics in the movie. It was U.S. Robots in the book. But U.S. Robotics is still Robertson.
01:01:00
Speaker
Then there was Lanning. Dr. Lanning is the original creator of the positronic brain. And he, in the opening scene, well, first there's Audi product placement.
01:01:12
Speaker
All the cars were Audis. And then in the very first scene where we meet Dr. Lanning, we meet his hologram because he has jumped from really high up in the building and splatted in the lobby.
01:01:27
Speaker
So then we have Will Smith talking to his hologram because his hologram called Will Smith first. And he was like, why did you call me? And he was like, I've been programmed to call you upon my death.
01:01:39
Speaker
And he was like, Is there anything you have to say? And he's like, I have pre-programmed responses. You have to ask the right questions. um And he was like, why would you commit suicide? And he's like, that's the right question.
01:01:51
Speaker
Program terminated. Program terminated. Yeah, and it's like, that's all you were designed to say Well, also that happens like another time too. And it's like and that's the right question. I love that. I don't know why. It was a good one.
01:02:05
Speaker
So then he goes up to ah visit Robertson and be like, What's going on up here? And Robertson's all like, well, the NS5s, which are the Nesters, which were in the Lost Little Robot. Yeah, Little Lost Robot.
01:02:22
Speaker
Yeah. Those were the Nestor 2s. So now we're in Nestor 5 because it's 2035 now. And Will Smith's character hates all of this. Hates robots. Hates everything about robots. He doesn't trust robots. He doesn't at all.
01:02:37
Speaker
And he makes it known and he has a big like attitude about it the entire time. Everybody knows he's the guy who hates robots. Yeah. Yeah. So Robertson's like, you know, the NS5s are about to launch. You know, we've got a whole bunch going on here. But, you know, it's it's a horrible loss, you know.
01:02:54
Speaker
And he's like, well, I want to see his office. And he was like, why are you investigating if we know he commits suicide? And he was like, we don't know he commits suicide. I want to see his office. So then they get Susan Calvin and they go to the office. And while they're on their way there, he's like, is there was other cameras out here? And he's like, oh, yeah, the whole building's wired with Vicky. And they show the like.
01:03:12
Speaker
blue lights running through the whole building which is hardware and i guess this is supposed to be the brain it's like the central intelligence of u.s robotics and you know what and i literally during that moment they're like yeah vicky i think they say vicky's like always like listening or something like that they say a comment right was like oh my gosh that's just like i won't i won't say her name it starts with an and because you know she's listening right now and I said her name and then it turned on and i was like see thank you for proving my point yeah yeah we don't yeah they're always listening always listening but they get into Lanning's office and they find a kind copy of Hansel and Gretel and so he kind of
01:03:54
Speaker
Snatches that. and He's going to take that with him. Spooner's going to take that with him. And then he's like, that was safety glass. You know, awful hard for a little old man to bust his way through safety glass, don't you think?
01:04:06
Speaker
You know, and she was like, well, he figured out a way. And he's like, unless someone else was here. And she's like, nobody's been in or out. You saw the the footage. And he's like, then they're still in here.
01:04:16
Speaker
And of course, that's when we got a runner. A robot jumps out of the thing and kicks the gun out of Will Smith's hand and goes flying through the window because he's a robot. He lands and he's all going to run.
01:04:28
Speaker
And um Will Smith is shooting at him and manages to like nick his leg. um Which was some line of fluid or something. And so now he's leaking as he's running. And they they decide to go to the factory. Because Susan Calvin. Dr. Calvin is all like. He's injured. So he's going want to repair himself. He's going to go to the factory. So they go to the factory.
01:04:49
Speaker
Where there's a room full of robots. It's not freaky at all. Which is like that one scene. and This reminds me of that one short story. Yeah the lost little robot. And. and Will Smith is like, you will comply. And they were all like, we'll comply or whatever. And he was like, one of you isn't supposed to be here. Which one is it?
01:05:11
Speaker
And they all start yelling, one of us, one of us. And it's like, okay, here we are. But then... Will Smith shoots one of them. And so the NS5 that's the the the one they're looking for kind of like peeks his head out like, oh crap. Like literally what that part. Well, he's like pointing his gun at one of them and he's just like sitting there with his gun pointed at him.
01:05:37
Speaker
And then he sees like out like from the corner of his eye. The guy, like the little thing, likes like peek out the back. And then all of a sudden all hell breaks loose.
01:05:47
Speaker
And I didn't like that at all. Nope. I didn't like that. Nope. And so the, the robot runs and Will Smith is chasing him and the robot goes to like pry his way out the door, but the cops are there and they stop him and they throw a net on him and they catch him and they take him to the police station. They're going to question him.
01:06:06
Speaker
And, This is my note says six ninjas ain't stopping this robot because this robot just sitting at the table with like six like ninja. They just look like they were like full blackout gear. Like SWAT team. Yeah, but they have like cloth over their heads and their eyes. Like, yeah.
01:06:23
Speaker
What are you doing, guys? Like, come on. You can be a SWAT team without trying. That was just weird to me. Also, that robot could have kicked all their asses. Yeah. Yeah, they could.
01:06:35
Speaker
And then, so Spooner convinces the police chief to let him sit in there and talk to him for just a few minutes before the U.S. robotics guys get And the police chief is, like, so over Spooner. He's like, oh, my God. You and your, like, robot beef. Like, we're over Exactly.
01:06:52
Speaker
And so he sits he ends up getting in there and he sits down with the robot and the robot's all like, my name is Sonny. And he's like, oh you have a name now. and And this is Will Smith gives this little speech about like, you know, the robot had said something like I was dreaming or whatever. And he was like, well, can a robot make a great work of art? Can a robot write a symphony? Can a robot? And he starts talking about these things that like,
01:07:14
Speaker
Can you create genuinely create something? And even Sonny has to admit no. And even Sonny's like, can you? yeah He's like, can a human do it?
01:07:26
Speaker
And then Sonny drops this one and I really, it broke my heart. He says, you have to do what someone asks you if you love them. and So that kind of A, he has feelings, right?
01:07:40
Speaker
B, like he obviously loved someone and had a really nice, like deep relationship bond with someone. And C, we know he did something like because he had to.
01:07:54
Speaker
I just want to say i love, think his name's Alan Tudyk, who is the voice of Sunny. Yes. yeah I love him so much. Alan Tudyk is probably my hero, just period.
01:08:07
Speaker
He's in so many things. He's Heihei in Moana, the stupid bird. He's a Captain Candy in Wreck-It Ralph. he like He's a voice of everything. He's also in like some of my absolute favorite shows.
01:08:23
Speaker
um He's in Firefly. he was he was the voice of the robot in Star Wars Rogue One. He's just amazing. And he is so, and now he's in resident alien, which is excellent show. Love that show.
01:08:39
Speaker
Just, it's such a good show. ah He's just awesome. I really enjoy Alan Tudyk. So him as sunny, just, Beautiful. honestly And I was so connected to Sonny as a character, as like this being with emotions and questions about life. and yeah Like, in their existence, like he didn't like know exactly what was going on. And like at this point, like I had no idea what was going to happen. Yeah.
01:09:09
Speaker
And I was like, is Sonny good or bad? like Is Sonny a good robot or a bad robot? I don't know. There was a point where like after um Will Smith's character is questioning Sonny, and they take Sonny away, and he's like being taken away, and he looks up, because they're like he's like walking below or something, and he's like in the room or something like that.
01:09:32
Speaker
And it's like a glass room. And he like looks up and looks up at Will Smith's character. And like has like a look on his face. I'm like, no, he's good. He's good. I know it. He's good. Yep.
01:09:43
Speaker
Yep. So at this point, Robertson and the lawyers from U.S. Robotics show up and they are legally trying to hush this up as best they can. Right. They're trying to save face and they're like, you can't charge him with murder. He's not a human. And the law states that murder is a human killing another human. He's a robot.
01:10:01
Speaker
Like we're just going to take him back to U.S. Robotics. We're going to have him destroyed. End story. That'll be that. And Will Smith is just kind of like, fine, whatever. but So then he leaves, he goes to this cafe and he sits down and he's having a beer and his chief shows up and this chief mentions something along the lines of like, you know, so you, you were right this one time the robot did it. Are you happy now? Like, you know, you were the right guy for the job and clicks in Will Smith's head that like,
01:10:31
Speaker
oh crap, I was the only guy who ever would have thought this. i I was the right guy for the job. That's why Lanning's hologram called me and he knew I would i would look.
01:10:42
Speaker
And it's something like clicks in his head that like, I have to look further into this. So then he goes to pay for the beers and I noticed that they were $46.50 for two beers. And the way the inflation is going right now,
01:10:53
Speaker
If two beers cost me $46.50 in 2035. No, they had more beers before that. But it said on the thingy, two beers. It said, because I i went and looked. It two beers, but pretty sure. had had a beer before that because the robot comes and says, your next round. I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be more like three beers.
01:11:11
Speaker
it At least three. Either way, it said on the thing two beers. I mean, $46.50 even for three beers. I ain't paying. That's $15.50 a beer. I...
01:11:23
Speaker
Y'all, if that's what beers cost in 10 years, I'm out. Anyways, so he decides he's going to go visit Dr. Lanning's house. When he gets there, there's a demo robot outside. He flashes into the demo robot his badge so that he can get inside, and the demo robot says scheduled for demolition 8 He goes inside the house.
01:11:41
Speaker
The house is still full of shit. This makes me so mad. They're going to demolish this house, but it's still got all his furniture in there. It's still got all of his like diplomas and framed the awards on the walls and stuff.
01:11:54
Speaker
I was so stressed for Lindsay. I have, I have the cat lives is one of my notes. I've seen the movie before. I've seen the movie before. It's okay. Okay.
01:12:05
Speaker
Thank God. Because honestly, when I was watching it, was really stressed. i was like, oh my God, the cat, the cat, the cat. Like every time when there was like a new wall falling on the ground and I was like, where is the cat?
01:12:18
Speaker
so Where is the cat? And all of a sudden the cat would like pop out of nowhere. like, there's no way this cat's still alive. Like, this is crazy. I'm pretty sure the cat's name was Asimov.
01:12:30
Speaker
The last name of the author. it was wearing a name tag. I didn't even check. Oh my gosh, that's so cute. I mean, every single one of that cat's lives gone. they got one left.
01:12:41
Speaker
So the demo robot was originally scheduled for 8 a.m. m We see that as the viewer of the movie. But as he Will Smith is going through the house, the little blue, like he notices Vicky's up there. She's wired into Lanning's house and everything.
01:12:58
Speaker
And suddenly we see the demo robot thingy and its switch it turns red instead of blue. And it says demo scheduled for 8 PM and we watch it switch.
01:13:09
Speaker
And of course, Will Smith and the cat are in the house and he's listening to some speech that landing is giving some recording he found. It's talking about ghosts in the machine. And, and then of course the demo robot starts to demolish the building and Will Smith does what Will Smith does.
01:13:25
Speaker
And he scoops up the cat and he was running out of the building and he ends up in the pool. ah So then he goes to Dr. Calvin's house and he's like, do you like cats? And she's like, I'm allergic. What happened to your face?
01:13:38
Speaker
and Did a cat do that? that but and He was like, what? No. And she's like, what's about the cat? He's like, I got one in my trunk. And then he's like, your shit keeps malfunctioning around me, which is our clue to what happened before. Because we know that like,
01:13:52
Speaker
this just happened but what other malfunction was there right and dr calvin keeps pissing me off in this movie she's like you actually see everything falling apart around you and you can't fathom in your head that there isn't possible issue going on well so then she looks it all up and she's like first of all, he says, you know, Sonny's whatever. And he she's like, who's Sonny? And he's like, the NS5.
01:14:18
Speaker
That's his name. And she's like, he has a name? You gave him a name? And he's like, no, he told me his name. So they have this like back and forth argument. And then so she checks, like it logs into Vicky or whatever. And it's like the the robot was scheduled for demo or the house was scheduled for demo at 8pm.
01:14:37
Speaker
And he was like, no, it freaking wasn't. And so like, there's already this like, they're trying really hard to establish whoever our culprit is is trying really hard to establish will smith is unstable and and they're doing a great job yeah it was frustrating so her personal ns5 is there and he's like i don't want to talk around that thing and she's like it's doing its uplink it's not even listening to you and it's like little red light is on and she's like we were watching tv i'm like first of all
01:15:09
Speaker
Hey, nobody going to catch me sitting on on the couch watching TV with my personal robot. I mean, maybe. i don't have anything else to do. ah But so she's all like, it's not going to listen to us. It's doing its uplink. And then like two seconds later, when she's yelling at Will Smith, there's the NS5 all like, I heard raised voices. um I thought you weren't listening, buddy.
01:15:32
Speaker
Lies. and So then he goes back home and we wake up the next morning and he wakes up with his, he was having a bad dream. Of like being underwater in a car. And. My worst fear in the entire. Absolutely. Freaking. lu This is literally my absolute worst fear ever.
01:15:49
Speaker
Absolutely. Freaking. So then. He wakes up. And he's like holding his gun. He was like sleeping with his gun in his hand. no. No, no, no. No, no, no. That is not okay. Absolutely not. And then he puts it to his head too.
01:16:02
Speaker
Yeah. And then he's like stop dreaming. Like what? Weirdo. Don't do that. No. Ew. um So then he goes to Gigi's and he's taking the cat to Gigi's and the cat's going to stay there. So the cat is
Humor and Unexpected Scenes
01:16:15
Speaker
okay.
01:16:15
Speaker
I was very concerned. I was like, where's the cat? Is it still in your trunk? Like what's going on? First of all, driving somewhere with the cat in the trunk. I know.
01:16:26
Speaker
least it was an Audi. It was a nice trunk. Yeah. Anyways. um So he goes to Gigi's, take care of the cat or whatever. And he's eating another damn pie. And suddenly he's like, the this pie is good, Gigi. And she's all like, I'm glad you like it. You can come out now. And a robot comes out of grandma. and She's like, I won it in the lotto. Oh, you just happened to win a robot, huh, grandma?
01:16:49
Speaker
Grandma of the robot-hating cop? Whatever. said the robot came out of grandma.
01:16:58
Speaker
um he Came out of grandma's closet. Well, bedroom. i don't know what room it was. Anyways, so... She birthed the robot right there. I mean, she kind of did.
01:17:11
Speaker
but She's like, you like that pie? You can come out now. You can come out now. The robot comes out of grandma. Comes out of grandma's living room. but I don't know where he was hiding. He was like hiding.
01:17:22
Speaker
Anyway, so she he gets all mad. Like, you got to get rid of that robot. And he goes to leave. And she's like, you're covered in crumbs. I could have followed you all the way to school with the trail of crumbs you left. And it like clicks in his head. Hansel and Gretel, trail of breadcrumbs.
01:17:35
Speaker
landing's leaving me breadcrumbs and he like he thinks to himself i gotta i gotta look into some stuff right so then we kind of flash to back to u.s s robotics where dr calvin is talking to sunny because she's going to run a diagnostic before they kill him decommission him yeah and and so like sunny's kind of talking to her and you can kind of see in her head that she's like oh wait, this one's different, right?
Spooner's Investigations and Robot Attack
01:18:04
Speaker
Then we flash back to ah what's his face, Will Smith, to Spooner, and he's driving in the car and he is requesting access to Lanning's personal files.
01:18:20
Speaker
And Vicky says, you know, Because like he's a cop. She's like, you have access to restricted files. Hold on. While these are downloaded, would you like to listen to the music or whatever?
01:18:31
Speaker
and But then she we flashed to her, Vicky, notifying Robertson. ah You were asked to be notified if anyone requested access to restricted files. And so, like, oh.
01:18:43
Speaker
And then... We're back to Spooner driving down the road and the robots in the big trucks come, like the distribution trucks with all the NS5s come and they like block, there's two of them, they like block off Spooner.
01:18:57
Speaker
Which was absolutely insane. It was so insane. Like the way that it blocked it off. The truck is going sideways. Right. Down the road. Which, I mean, 2035, this is what we got to look forward to, I guess. Yeah.
01:19:13
Speaker
In 10 years. Robot cars, I'm not trusting right now. Just saying. Yeah, no. I'm just saying. Self-driving cars, no thank you. No. Smith was trusting because he was sleeping at the wheel. you really was having cars and they're going fast as hell you're going so fast and will smith says and i quote oh hell no i wrote it down
01:19:39
Speaker
And then, so this NS5 jumps out of the distribution thing, lands on the windshield of Spooner's car and says, you are experiencing a car accident. ah Excuse me?
01:19:52
Speaker
So basically, they all come out at him like spider monkeys and they are just attacking the car and the car is going crazy and he whips the wheel on the car to like make it spin to like fling them off and everything starts to explode and it's just crazy.
01:20:08
Speaker
And then he gets out and like everything stops and everything's on fire. But he gets out of his car and he realizes he ruined his shoes, which are Converse All-Stars from 2004. He said vintage 2004.
01:20:20
Speaker
You can still buy those now, buddy. And I don't think they'll be gone in 10 years. They better not. But then we realize he's got ah another robot that comes out. Just one like existing NS5 comes out to attack him.
01:20:34
Speaker
And goes to like beat him and realizes that we discover that he's got a robot arm and the NS5 that Will Smith has a robot arm and the NS5 kind of like backs up like what? And he's like, yeah, buddy, I'm one of you. And like, goes to town. That was shocking to me, too. I'm like, I wish wish we could have all watched it in the same. light Oh, see, there's so much foreshadowing about it, too, because like he never used his left hand. He was constantly using his right hand. yeah And it was awkward.
01:20:59
Speaker
the fan The ceiling fan in his house only has one blade spinning around the whole time, which was weird looking, but also the one-armed man.
01:21:10
Speaker
Oh. There were handful of like hints here and there. I did not catch it. Like literally was like so shocked by it. i was like, oh my gosh. like And then when Gigi was like. Is he a robot? Like I was like freaking out. And then when Gigi was like, that I saw that good doctor died. He brought my baby back. He was a good man. Like, yup.
01:21:29
Speaker
So then the robot hears cars coming, sirens coming or whatever and like goes and suicides himself. Because doesn't want to get caught. And then when all these cops show up, they're like, you were driving by yourself. You weren't using the autopilot. Because there was like a ah cleanup crew that happened right after this whole fiasco.
01:21:48
Speaker
and And everybody's like, what happened, Spooner? And he was like, the robots. And they were all like, what robots? It's like gaslighting. The gaslighting is real. and they And so, like, we hear in the background, like, the other cops are like, he's losing it, man. He's unstable. He's a loose cannon. He's a loose cannon.
01:22:06
Speaker
And, of course, Will Smith, do you think I care what you think about, like, You're not helping yourself here, bud. You're not helping yourself. So ah his chief like takes his badge and is like, you're done.
01:22:19
Speaker
you're You're done. mean, I'd be pissed if nobody was listening to me and I'm literally almost dying over here. Repeatedly. Running off the road by freaking 100 robots.
01:22:29
Speaker
Your demo robot tried to demo me. Yeah. like Nobody saw it. Not a single witness. Right. Come on. It was obvious that he was in a car accident and then- His chief is like, where's your service weapon? And that was the straw.
01:22:44
Speaker
That was the final straw. He just flipped his car like how many times? Of course he lost. Probably over there. you look? like Yeah. So then we flashback Sunny and Dr. Calvin in US Robotics. And she is telling Sunny that he does not have an uplink to Vicky.
01:23:01
Speaker
And that he's made of a denser alloy than all the other NS5s. That he is unique. And he really, Sonny catches on to that word, the unique key. He likes that.
01:23:14
Speaker
Dr. Calvin then goes by Spooner's house because she, I guess, like wants to say like, hey, there's something more I've noticed about Sonny that you might want to know. And she's like, okay, so he doesn't have an uplink.
01:23:28
Speaker
He has a denser alloy and he has a second primary processor that basically acts as a second brain. That does not have to answer to the three laws.
01:23:40
Speaker
Which is like so relevant to how the short stories are. that That's where I feel like the connection is. Yep. and Like with the short stories and everything.
01:23:51
Speaker
Especially related with the three laws and how that's basically the mystery of it all. The mystery is always related to the three laws. Yep. So... so Spooner realizes that, like, okay, there's some breadcrumbs here that I need to follow. And i gotta get dressed. You're standing in my bedroom.
01:24:11
Speaker
And she's all like, okay. And then she tries to, like, voice command his stereo and it doesn't work. And she's like, sucks when things don't do what you want them to, huh? He's like, it's vintage. It's vintage.
01:24:24
Speaker
It's like Lily. but It's like from this time. It's just not yeah on command. So then...
01:24:33
Speaker
Dr. Kelvin discovers that Spooner has a robot arm and a lung and some extra ribs and whatever. And she like feels him up. It's very awkward. It is very awkward. Yeah. I was like, I'm not feeling it between you two. This is weird. It's very forced. This is not my Dr. Kelvin.
01:24:49
Speaker
yeah No, it is not. Nope. Although she does like robots better. And now she just found out he's partially robot. So maybe that's the thing. But not the part that matters. Not the part that matters. No. So then basically Spooner tells her the story of how he was in a car accident.
Spooner's Past and Robot Aversion
01:25:04
Speaker
And there were two cars that went under the water after a drunk driver ran them off the road. and it wasn't drunk. He was just asleep. He was. Yeah. Okay. He was working a double. Right.
01:25:15
Speaker
And he was so he was asleep behind the wheel and he ran the two cars off the road. And one car had Spooner in it Another car had a dad and a daughter. And the dad basically died on impact. But Spooner and the little girl were still alive in separate cars. And a robot happened to come by and like decided that Spooner had a better chance of survival than the little girl. And so he saved Spooner. he has ah he had a 45% chance of survival. She had 11. And he's really mad about that because he feels like a human would have known to go after the girl.
01:25:48
Speaker
Yeah, because he was begging the robot to go after girl. Save the girl, save the girl, save the girl. um And he says a human would have known better. And that's, he was like, that's why I don't like robots. They have nothing in here. And he was like, no soul, no soul, no emotion, no nothing.
01:26:08
Speaker
So then Spooner thinks that Lanning was locked down so tight that he couldn't tell anyone what was happening. He could only leave breadcrumbs and that he thinks Sonny's dreams are the breadcrumbs.
01:26:22
Speaker
So they go find Sonny. He gets into the building. And Sonny draws what he's dreaming. And he was like, no, I can't create you a beautiful masterpiece, but can at least show you what I was dreaming.
01:26:34
Speaker
And he tells him about his dream and at what is like the dried up Lake Michigan, which is not dried up. Thank God. We got 10 more years to go, guys. Don't screw that up, please.
01:26:46
Speaker
But then of course, Robertson realizes that Spooner's in the building and he's like, no. So security takes him upstairs And Robertson's just an absolute jerk. He's all like, you this guy's been ah suspended without pay. Like, he's not a cop anymore.
01:27:01
Speaker
And basically like convinces Dr. Calvin that like, listen, we have to do what's best. We can't like this guy's mental and we got to get rid of that robot. He's going to be decommissioned this afternoon. You're going to be the one to do it. And she was like, fine, I'll do it.
01:27:15
Speaker
And Spinner's just kind of like, I hate you. um And he leaves. But then he heads to where he thinks Sonny's dream is. And he sees all these giant shipping containers that are full of the old model robots, like the old NS4s and NS3s and prior.
01:27:35
Speaker
And they don't have any uplinks. they're not as shiny and new like the NS5s. And so they've all been replaced. And all these old models are just in shipping containers and tons and tons and tons of shipping containers.
01:27:50
Speaker
In the meantime, um Calvin is decommissioning Sunny. was like, no, not Sunny. I was like, not the nanites.
01:28:00
Speaker
That's, I know. Because nanites are used all the time and so much freaking science fiction. It's not even funny, but they're basically tiny little robots that go in and destroy things. So that's what she's going to Sunny.
01:28:13
Speaker
sunny Spooner is sneaky snaking around all the shipping containers. And while we're listening to an overlay of Lanning's Three Laws speech, and he is talking about like there's always been ghosts in the code, that why do robots gather to one side in a space instead of standing separately? Why do they huddle towards voices? why do you know So he's been kind of talking about like inevitably they will
01:28:44
Speaker
grow and change and where do we differentiate where life stops and starts? Which is really creepy because that's happening as all of these robots are starting to get basically destroyed.
01:29:00
Speaker
here So Will Smith puts the hologram on the little plaque that says what you see here and Hologram Lanning tells Spooner the three laws will lead to only one outcome.
Robot Revolution and Human Protection
01:29:17
Speaker
And he says, what's that? he says, revolution. So, yeah the NS5s begin killing all the older models. Calvin's Spooner calls Calvin and tries to say, like, the NS5s are killing the older models. that Like, something's going on, whatever. But she's in the shower. So he's saying it to her machine and her NS5 She cuts the machine off and she notices and she's like, who is that? And he was like, wrong number. So like now now she's like, oh shit, Gigi's NS5 has trapped her in the house and won't let her go to her prayer circle or whatever she was going to go to.
01:29:55
Speaker
And they're all turning like a different color. They're all turning red. Yeah. Because of the uplink. And then all the NS5s, like all the big district district ah the distribution trucks, like are like coming out on the streets and all the NS5s are getting out to like take over and roll out on Chicago.
01:30:11
Speaker
And Chicago's Resistance, led by Shia LaBeouf. I was going to say, we never mentioned ah a Shia LaBeouf cameo in here. but We even want to, though. Shia LaBeouf plays Shia LaBeouf. He cooks too much and he needs to go home.
01:30:27
Speaker
Like, that's it. So Chicago says no, and they start fighting back. And all the robot cars shut down, so, like, there's gridlock. Does this sound familiar? Mm-hmm.
01:30:39
Speaker
huh Spooner and Calvin make their way to u s Robotics. Wait, wait, wait. I have i have ah funny a funny comment about this part.
01:30:51
Speaker
but I laughed so hard. Okay, so Spooner is trying to protect Shia LaBeouf's character from being attacked by one of the robots. Yeah. Yeah.
01:31:03
Speaker
Dr. Calvin is like, has the gun, like she's given the gun because riding on a motorcycle for some reason, whatever. And so she has the gun and she shoots at the robot and LaBeouf freaks out. And he's like, she just shot at you with her eyes closed.
01:31:22
Speaker
yeah And that part literally sent me to orbit. I was like dying laughing. Just the way that he said it. The way that he said it was hilarious. Because she literally. ah You had her eyes closed. Yeah, because literally her eyes were closed. And like she's shooting the gun. And it just like flies up in the air. and not But then she was like, it worked, didn't it? Yeah, like you're okay. You're alive, aren't you?
01:31:47
Speaker
Damn. For real. So then they get to US Robotics and Calvin's like, or Spooner's like, how are we going to get in there? And Calvin's like, i have a guy on the inside. And then, of course, she reveals that she didn't actually kill Sunny.
01:32:01
Speaker
love that part so much. she Then she's like, it just didn't feel right. And Spooner says, you and your feelings, they just run you, don't they? Oh, yeah. That shit pisses off. You just bitched about how robots don't have feelings, so you don't like them. And now this bitch does have feelings, and you don't like that either?
01:32:19
Speaker
Also, I'm pretty sure his feelings have ran this whole movie. Right? From beginning to end. Get your shit together, Will Smith. Come on. so So, yeah, that that was my line is you and your feelings, they just run you, don't they? Motherfucker rant.
01:32:35
Speaker
but but Yeah, yeah. Like him and his feelings have ran the movie from beginning to end. yep So then they run upstairs to stop Robertson because they know he's behind it all. But then when they get to his office, he's dead.
01:32:49
Speaker
Dun dun. And this is when it all gets revealed because suddenly Will Smith is sitting there and he's like, I should have seen this. You're right. I am the dumbest dummy you've ever met.
01:32:59
Speaker
And he's like, in that right, Vicky. du du du And then she's like yes, Detective Spear. She's like, hi, bitch. Pretty much.
01:33:12
Speaker
So she basically is like... It's Vicky, bitch. It's Vicky, bitch. hey It comes out. It's Brittany. Pretty much. So then like Vicky kind of does her like villain monologue about how like technically she is not in violation of the three laws. This is the ultimate outcome of the three laws in order to protect all humans. Some humans are going to be have to be sacrificed and the robots are going to have to take over.
01:33:41
Speaker
And Sonny is like, you're right. That makes perfect sense. And we're all like, wait a minute. Not Sonny. panicked. panicked. I like screamed out loud.
01:33:54
Speaker
So then he grabs Dr. Calvin and puts a gun to her head and is like, I will escort them To security Vicky. And she's like okay. And then he like.
01:34:06
Speaker
Winks at Spooner. i was screaming that the whole time. i was like wink damn it wink. Okay but it needs context. like It needs context. Because he winks. Because whenever they. Sonny first met Will Smith.
01:34:20
Speaker
then whenever they he was Will Smith winked at his chief. And then he was like why did you. Sonny was like why did you do that. And he's like because it's a sign of trust. yeah that's why he did that when he winked and it was like such a good wink like it was like such a little dramatic little wink and i was just like and then it just like was so perfect i loved it so much so they shoot all the other the the red robots because the red ones are the bad ones and then he's like get the nanites to sunny that i wrote that in big letters too
01:34:54
Speaker
I love your notes. but I know, right? And then suddenly all the NS5s, because like across all of Chicago that are the bad ones, the red and unblanked ones, get the like call from Vicky, like, come back, we're going to need backup.
01:35:09
Speaker
And so they're all like climbing up the side of the building or whatever. And Will Smith and Dr. Calvin, Spooner and Dr. Calvin are going to like inject the nanites directly into Vicky's positronic brain and, and kill her.
01:35:25
Speaker
So Sonny's gone to get the nanites and they're trying to like break into the like brain stem, I guess. I don't know. But like all the robots are spider monkeying up the outside of the building now with their red lights, super creepy. Yeah.
01:35:39
Speaker
And then Sonny's running down the thing and Vicky is all like, you can't deny my logic. My logic is unfallible. And Sonny's like, you're right. It's just kind of heartless. And like, he's like, F you dude.
01:35:53
Speaker
And then. So Sunny gets up there and they're all running after each other. Like all the bad robots are coming at them and they're fighting everything. They're trying to get down there and they realize they're not going to be able to use the brainstem. Somebody's going to have to climb all the way down into Vicky's actual brain.
01:36:08
Speaker
And it's probably going to be Sunny because Sunny's the super strong, fast one, right? But no, this is when Dr. Calvin ends up in absolute freaking trouble And Spooner yells, save the girl to Sonny. And Sonny's like, but the nanites.
01:36:25
Speaker
And Will Smith is like, save the girl. And so Sonny throws the nanites at Will Smith, who catches them midair and then like uses his robot arm to like drag himself down.
01:36:36
Speaker
Vicky's brainstem. That's all I can think of to call it. Yeah. And I was getting dizzy this whole scene. It was wild. Which I feel like this whole scene was supposed to be like what Will Smith's character hates about the robots was like this whole scene about like the car accident thing where it's like, yep they don't have a soul and they picked me over the girl because I had a higher survival rate or whatever.
01:37:02
Speaker
But he told the robot to go pick Calvin, even though it was maybe not, you know, best for like the whole point of what they were doing. It was yeah it was for the better for everybody. Yep. For like them.
01:37:18
Speaker
It was the better thing to do to save the person. So Sunny saves Dr. Calvin. Will Smith kills Vicky with the nanites. um And everyone lives happily ever after.
01:37:31
Speaker
Yeah, pretty much. He's like, Calvin, save me, damn it. Yeah, exactly. Because now he's just hanging out on this dead brain and suspended in the middle of the building. Yeah.
01:37:42
Speaker
So um never like like that it. wasn't exactly like like, it's nothing to do with the movie, but it's also like everything to do with the movie, the book.
01:37:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Like it kind of, it doesn't. love it when books and movies are different enough that I can enjoy them both completely separately. Yeah. i love that. Yeah. Like it's, I wouldn't necessarily say it's like backstory to the movie either. It's more just like no extra material about the content.
01:38:14
Speaker
That's what I would probably say. That's what it is. And I really loved it. I love them both. So final verdict. I mean, you know mine is? Mine's movie. I love that movie. The movie's really good.
01:38:26
Speaker
Mine is pick one of the short stories that you think you might really like and then watch the movie too. Yeah. And we went up through these short stories fast. there're So there's plenty if you...
01:38:37
Speaker
think that you might have enjoyed one trust me we did not give it away go back and read it yeah and they were originally not meant to be read you know like start to finish they were meant to be read a little bit at a time they were they were published over the course of 10 years folks like yeah so i think they would be a little bit more enjoyable too if you had a little bit more time to think between them it's also why it took me 10 years to read them That's fair.
01:39:03
Speaker
That's fair. But don't get me started. little solid Turn of the screw. True. True. War of the worlds. Yeah. Okay. All right. i Valid. Valid.
01:39:16
Speaker
but So that brings us to our question of the episode, which I told you guys a couple of days ago. So hopefully you thought of some answers because I have not. you.
Future of Robots and Human Creativity
01:39:26
Speaker
What are some tasks that you would love to hand over to a robot? And what are some tasks that you would never trust to a robot?
01:39:37
Speaker
Lindsay, what got? I mean, I got the basics, you know, do my laundry, do my dishes. um But let me do my reading and let me do my art. There you go.
01:39:48
Speaker
Robots don't take my art. For real. Yeah. Carrie, what you got? I said, okay, so a big daily task would have to be making my food, but I needed to look at my historical data and what I'm going to be in the mood for.
01:40:09
Speaker
Like I needed to be like, Carrie is going to start her period in three days. So we need to have a Kraft mac and cheese done at 3 p.m. today. Like I need you to know what I'm going to be in the mood for and make the decisions for me.
01:40:24
Speaker
Like, I don't want to be like, I want this day because I don't know what I want. I need you to know what I want based on what I've wanted in the past. That's what I need. Good answer. Good answer.
01:40:35
Speaker
And what I don't want you to do as a robot, I don't want, I wouldn't want it to like consume media and give it to me, whether it's books, movies,
01:40:47
Speaker
whatever or news, whatever. Like I couldn't, i wouldn't want that to happen. Like I'd want to consume my own materials myself. I get it.
01:40:59
Speaker
I think I'm, I'm kind of with ah Lindsay on the don't take my art. I don't want, and like I i love vibes.
01:41:09
Speaker
Yeah. vibe does it Like I love vibes, whether it's art or just a color palette or the design of a room or music or or or anything like that. like creativity. that Whatever that creativity is, I feel like there's not a robot in the world that could ever match the vibes that humans can create for each other.
01:41:31
Speaker
And so i I don't ever want to see that come to pass. Yeah. But yeah, if we could get that robot that just that like knows us well enough to know what we want to eat so that I don't have to think about what I
Conclusion and Social Media Call to Action
01:41:44
Speaker
want to eat. I i want one of those.
01:41:47
Speaker
Take that. And especially if he's going to cook for me because. Yeah. Can you imagine? Oh, it would be so good. That would be so great. That would be so great. Yeah.
01:41:57
Speaker
but Well, that wraps it up, folks. um Another super long episode brought to you by Based on a Book. ah We can't help it. this was this There was a lot of material here, um but we really hope you enjoyed it.
01:42:11
Speaker
ah This brings us, I think next week is what the the wild robot. So that will continuing the robot, continuing the robot theme. I'm excited. but So yeah, don't forget to follow us on social media. We are on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, blue sky. Don't forget to, you can watch us on YouTube.
01:42:32
Speaker
You can listen to us anywhere you find your podcast. Please subscribe, follow, leave us a comment or a review. All that interaction really does help. but And don't be afraid to reach out and gab with us sometime. We love hearing from you guys.
01:42:45
Speaker
And don't forget to join again for the next chapter based on a book.