Whether robots or artificial intelligence in other forms - advanced technology doesn't only play a role in films. Such more or less realistic developments also appear time and time again in books. Sometimes artificial intelligence plays a rather central role in the plot, and sometimes it's merely lurking in the background of a dystopia. These are the 6 novels about AI you shouldn't miss.

Erewhon: or, Over the Range

The novel Erewhon by the English writer Samuel Butler dates back to 1872 and is a satire about Victorian England written as a utopia. In the unknown land of Erewhon, machines are considered dangerous. The inhabitants are afraid that one day they will develop into independent living beings.

In Chapter 23, the Book of Machines, Butler does not call it artificial intelligence. But, the point is that machines acquire consciousness. In the chapter he originally wrote as an article for a New Zealand newspaper, he also refers to Charles Darwin's theories of evolution. Accordingly, the machines also undergo constant evolution, eventually self-replicating and perhaps one day replacing mankind as the dominant species. Even if, according to Butler, the machines still relied on people to help them with reproduction and maintenance.

Erewhon society is therefore convinced that machines only exist to replace humanity. That's why machines are destroyed here - even clocks.

With Folded Hands

Jack Williamson published With Folded Hands in 1947, an amendment that in principle describes a classic dystopia dominated by robots. The story is about a city in which so-called humanoids suddenly appear - advanced robots that spread and take on all kinds of tasks. According to their own statement, they act according to the motto of serving and protecting humanity. But this does not always seem to be in the interest of the people. Because the humanoids soon not only take over tasks like those of the police, but also open shops. And since they want to serve humanity, they offer their services free of charge, which in turn drives people out of business.

Williamson himself later told in an interview that he wrote the story shortly after the end of the Second World War and the dropping of the atomic bomb. At a time when the thought was growing that some technological advances, perhaps developed with good intentions, would have catastrophic long-term effects.

Man and machine - an eternal conflict / © maxuser/Shutterstock

I, Robot

Film fans will know the novel by Isaac Asimov, published in 1950, under its original title I, Robot through the film adaptation of the same name from 2004 with Will Smith in the leading role. The book consists of nine coherent short stories, all of which have a common framework. The whole thing is structured as an interview with Dr. Susan Calvin, a psychologist for robots. It tells the story of the creation of robots from their simple beginnings to perfection in a near future in which mankind could become superfluous.

The three laws of robotics are also featured in Asimov's book. These say, among other things, that the robots must not injure humans. So even if there are robot politicians who pull the strings, humanity is not necessarily threatened by robots here.