A Fourth Law of Robotics

In 1942, legendary science fiction writer Isaac Asimov proposed his famous Three Laws of Robotics in the short story “Runaround,” later popularized in his classic collection I, Robot. These laws established a futuristic moral code for machines.

We’re living in an era where AI can generate images, videos, and text so convincing that it’s difficult to distinguish real from fake. Issues like deepfakes and AI-driven disinformation go far beyond Asimov’s original concerns about physical harm or obedience to human orders. These technologies are not just used for pranks; they’re altering elections, swaying public opinion, and in some cases, costing people their life savings. And it’s getting easier by the day to create ever more believable fakes.

As BKC faculty associate and Campus AI board member, Dariusz Jemielniak, argues, we need a clear rule, a Fourth Law of Robotics—as an addition to Asimov’s classic code:

Fourth Law: A robot or AI must not deceive a human by impersonating a human being.

Read more in IEEE Spectrum

Or watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fu4CYjp_NRg?si=txndUdOE8I-Xu77i