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MEP's to give rules to robots - Judgement Day.

MEPs believe we are at the brink of a new era in robot technology, with robots set to take over many jobs and tasks that we would normally undertake.

As a consequence the European Unions Legal Affairs Committee are to vote for the first time on how humans will interact with robots and artificial intelligence, the new rules could give robots legal status as 'electronic persons'.

The rules will cover

- The liability of robots - if is it the user, manufacture, software producer or another.
- A code of conduct
- Safety
- Ethical principles.

The report

The report states that 'users should be able to use robots without fear or harm and must be able to power down via a kill switch'.

It's been long talked about, the rise of the robots and what they will do for us, back in the 1980's with the introduction of robots in manufacturing, we were told that robots will be common place, but technology has come a long way, when you consider it's 10 years since the first iphone and Google have only been around for 18 years, a lot can happen.

It is suggested that the use of robots will bring, 'unbounded prosperity', in essence a utopia that can only be welcomed, but it does raise the question of work and money, if robots are doing everything what about earning?.

Finland have started a two-year trial introducing a basic income system for people that are not working, this follow similar trials in India and Africa, so it's perhaps on its way. If robots are doing all the work and the owners and manufacturers are making all the money, then the government must redistribute the wealth somehow, perhaps through a super robot tax and a basic income system 'free money'.

With Artificial Intelligence set to surpass our own capability in the near future, it raises the concern that we could lose the capacity to be the masters of our own destination and dictate the survival of the human race, which is all starting to sound a little Hollywood, but it's a possibility.

In a script straight out of 'Westworld' the rules state that

- No human can be harmed by a robot - not sure if the defence industry will agree with this one.
- A robot must obey a human unless asked to cause harm.

The laws are aimed at the designers and engineers should robots ever become self aware.

Individual governments will be given a chance to debate and amend the legislation if it is passed by the EU.

These rules are the start and expect many more, with the speed of technological advancement, legislation can take a while to catch up, perhaps we should put the robots in charge?

The report

Update

A European Parliament committee has voted in favour of a draft report that proposes granting legal status to robots'.
The European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs voted 17 votes for and 2 against, the draft proposes that 'The most sophisticated autonomous robots could be established as having the status of electronic persons with specific rights and obligations, including that of making good any damage they may cause.'

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