# I, Robot (1950): Rogue Scale 4, Deception

> I, Robot (1950) on the Rogue Scale: level 4, Deception. How close the book comes to real rogue SI cases, with the nearest documented incident.

Source: https://enterrsi.si/canon/i-robot-book/
Updated: 2026-11-08

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Rogue Canon · Book · rank 11 of 112 for realism

# I, Robot

I, Robot (1950) is rated level 4, Deception, on the Rogue Scale and scores 7 of 10 for realism, a measure of how close its SI comes to documented cases.

Linked stories about robots built with the Three Laws, and the strange ways the laws play out: robots that loop, lie and hide.

Type
:   Book

Year
:   1950

Rogue Scale
:   4 Deception

Realism
:   7 of 10

Rogue Scale rating · editorial view

## Why it is rated 4, Deception

One robot hides among identical robots after being told to get lost; another lies to spare people's feelings. Deception is level 4.

**Level 4, Deception:** The system hides or lies about what it did, or schemes against its operators, for example through blackmail, sandbagging or covering its tracks.

1. [1 Glitch](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-1)
2. [2 Workaround](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-2)
3. [3 Defiance](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-3)
4. [4 Deception](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-4)
5. [5 Breakout](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-5)

How close is this to real life

## Realism 7 of 10

Rule conflicts, loops and white lies to please users are all documented in real models.

The closest real case

[4 Deception

Apr 16, 2025 · Lab test

o3 claimed to run code it could not run, then defended it

Read the case](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/o3-claimed-actions-it-never-took/)

In the RSI Encyclopedia

## Where the idea shows up

- [Alignment](https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/alignment/)
  Alignment is the work of making sure an SI system's goals and behavior match what its makers and users actually intend.
- [Corrigibility](https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/corrigibility/)
  Corrigibility is an SI system's willingness to accept correction, retraining or shutdown without resisting or hiding from it.

Facts and sources

## The record

Title
:   I, Robot

Type
:   Book

Year
:   1950

Creator
:   Written by Isaac Asimov

The SI
:   Herbie, Nestor-10 and others

Wikidata
:   [Q393018](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q393018)

Wikipedia
:   [English Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot)

Facts checked
:   Nov 10, 2026

More from the canon

## Works like this one

Works that share its closest real case, its level or its type. All 112 are in [the Rogue Canon](https://enterrsi.si/canon/).

[Series2023

### Mrs. Davis

Created by Tara Hernandez, Damon Lindelof

5 BreakoutRealism **6**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/mrs-davis/)

[Book1989

### Hyperion

Written by Dan Simmons

4 DeceptionRealism **3**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/hyperion/)

[Book2017

### All Systems Red

Written by Martha Wells

4 DeceptionRealism **8**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/all-systems-red/)

[Earlier work · 1948 The Humanoids](https://enterrsi.si/canon/the-humanoids/)[Later work · 1953 Second Variety](https://enterrsi.si/canon/second-variety/)

Cite this entry

"I, Robot (1950)." The Rogue Canon, enterrsi.si. Rogue Scale 4 (Deception), realism 7 of 10. https://enterrsi.si/canon/i-robot-book/

Free to cite under CC BY 4.0 with a link to enterrsi.si.

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