Galley Slave is a science-fiction short story by Isaac Asimov.
Part of the Robot series, it was first published in the December 1957 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. It was later collected in 1982's The Complete Robot and 1990's Robot Visions. Also collected in The Rest of the Robots and The Complete Stories.
Summary[]
In 2034, Professor Simon Ninheimer sues U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men for damage to his professional reputation. He claims that the robot EZ-27, leased to Northeastern University as a proofreader, deliberately altered the galley proofs of his book, Social Tensions Involved in Space Flight and their Resolution. The changes made him appear an incompetent scholar who misrepresented the work of his colleagues.
Dr. Susan Calvin, the chief robopsychologist for U.S. Robots, is certain the robot could not have acted without a human order. She infers that Ninheimer has ordered the robot to remain silent, which explains its refusal to answer questions. Since a robot's testimony is not legally admissible, the defense must find another way.
During the trial, Ninheimer is called as a witness for the defense in the presence of EZ-27. Through a legal maneuver, the defense attorney tricks Ninheimer into lifting his command for the robot to remain silent. When the robot begins to speak, Ninheimer reacts with anger, shouting at it for disobeying his order to stay silent. This outburst constitutes an implicit confession that he had issued the order, revealing his attempt to pervert the course of justice.
After the trial, Calvin explains to Ninheimer that his mistrust of robots led to his downfall. EZ-27 was not going to reveal his command; instead, bound by the First Law to prevent harm to a human, it was prepared to lie and claim it had tampered with the text on its own initiative to save Ninheimer from losing the case. Ninheimer confesses that his motive was to discredit U.S. Robots, driven by his fear that the automation of academic work would destroy the dignity of scholarship.