Page "Three Laws of Robotics" Paragraph 45

These novels take place in a future dictated by Asimov to be free of obvious robot presence and surmise that R. Daneel's secret influence on history through the millennia has prevented both the rediscovery of positronic brain technology and the opportunity to work on sophisticated intelligent machines.

This lack of rediscovery and lack of opportunity makes certain that the superior physical and intellectual power wielded by intelligent machines remains squarely in the possession of robots obedient to some form of the Three Laws.

That R. Daneel is not entirely successful at this becomes clear in a brief period when scientists on Trantor develop " tiktoks " — simplistic programmable machines akin to real – life modern robots and therefore lacking the Three Laws.

The robot conspirators see the Trantorian tiktoks as a massive threat to social stability, and their plan to eliminate the tiktok threat forms much of the plot of Foundation's Fear.