Well worth reading for the (unexpected) outcome, and the story has an underlying theory that has been discussed on HN before (you will find out which theory that is by reading the story, I don't want to spoil it).
Also interesting is that Asimov starts out with the concept of a huge supercomputer, named MULTIVAC (which is not unexpected given that it was written in the 50's), but in the story the 'AC' gradually evolves into a system of interconnected computers.
The story moves towards a technological singularity [1]. This is a term Asimov could have been familar with at the time of writing. The name MULTIVAC is obviously inspired by the ENIAC and UNIVAC. So it's safe to assume Asimov was aware of the writings of Von Neumann.
The unintended consequence of creating this artificial intelligence is creation as described in Genesis.
I interpret the underlying message of this story to be 'our reality is a simulated reality [2]' since it was created by AI. I don't know if Asimov would have agreed.
While reading this short story, I also couldn't help myself from thinking about these two articles posted few days ago, and their underlying connection:
- "Physicists To Test If Universe Is A Computer Simulation" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5562156).
- "European Researchers Win $1.3 Billion To Simulate The Human Brain" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5575312)
Also interesting is that Asimov starts out with the concept of a huge supercomputer, named MULTIVAC (which is not unexpected given that it was written in the 50's), but in the story the 'AC' gradually evolves into a system of interconnected computers.