178 Chapter 8
Zeus— that Asimov’s fourth law applies. Pandora breaks the so- called
Zeroth Law, which Asimov added later: a robot shall not harm humanity.
Pandora also violates law 23 of the 2017 Asilomar principles: Artificial
Intelligence should benefit all humanity (chapter 7).
One cannot help noticing that all of the automata used to inflict pain
and death in ancient mythology belonged to tyrannical rulers, from King
Minos of Crete and King Aeetes of Colchis to Zeus, the Father of Gods
and Men, who chuckles in anticipation of his cruel “trap” for humans.
It is a striking fact that the autocratic fascination with animated statues
designed to inflict torture and death was not confined to ancient myth.
Malevolent machines existed in reality— in historical times— and were
used by living tyrants of the ancient world. The next chapter surveys
actual automata and self- moving devices— some designed to harm and
others created for benign purposes— described in literature, history, leg-
end, and art beginning as early as the fifth century BC.