Galley Slave

Asimov, Isaac. "Galley Slave." Galaxy (December 1957). Collected The Rest of the Robots (1964), The Complete Robot (1982) and other collections, plus reprints in anthologies, for which — and translations — see entry in Internet Speculative Fiction Database, as of Fall 2021, available at link through note.[1]

Novelette, showing a courtroom drama set in 2034, after the perfection of positronic-brain robots. Summarized on Wikipedia with the opening paragraph identifying

Simon Ninheimer, a professor of sociology, suing U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men for loss of professional reputation. He contends that robot EZ-27 (aka "Easy"), while leased to Northeastern University for use as a proofreader, deliberately altered and rewrote parts of his book Social Tensions Involved in Space Flight and their Resolution while checking the galley proofs (hence the title). Ninheimer holds that the alterations to his book make him appear an incompetent scholar who has absurdly misrepresented the work of his professional colleagues in fields such as criminal justice.[2]

The story features the roboticist/ Chief Robopsychologist Susan Calvin, the accused robot, fear of "the automation of academic work," and Asimov's Laws of Robotics.

RDE — with thanks to Carma Spence, Phil Nichols, and the SFRA ListServ — finishing, 6Sep21