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Finally, a real "Digital Liberty" story for the mechanical among us. The EU has released a report mulling topics such as "electronic personhood" status for robots, and kill switches:
The European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs has proposed a legal framework for robots that clarifies whether they should have the legal status of people, even as it recommends the inclusion of kill switches in automated systems. "A growing number of areas of our daily lives are increasingly affected by robotics," said rapporteur Mady Delvaux in a statement. "In order to address this reality and to ensure that robots are and will remain in the service of humans, we urgently need to create a robust European legal framework."
The committee's draft report, due to be considered by the full EU Parliament in February, says that robot sales were increasing about 17 per cent annually between 2010 and 2014, then in 2014 the rate jumped to 29 per cent, driven by automotive parts suppliers and the electronics industry. It also notes that robot-oriented patent filings have tripled over the last decade.
[...] The committee is calling for an EU agency to oversee robotics and artificial intelligence and for the adoption of a voluntary ethical code governing who will be accountable for the social, health, and environmental impact of robots. It wants to ensure that robots operate according to established legal, ethical, and safety standards. The committee also hopes robot designers will take responsibility for the actions of their creations. "Robotics engineers should remain accountable for the social, environmental and human health impacts that robotics may impose on present and future generations," the report says.
The Prometheans are coming, and they don't care about anything's personhood.
Also at BBC and The Guardian.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by anubi on Monday January 16 2017, @07:15AM
I am apprehensive over awarding "personhood" to a machine, as then the machine can be made a scapegoat for someone else's doings, thereby allowing yet more ways for clever handshakers and paper-signers to avoid being held personally responsible for what they did.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by stormwyrm on Monday January 16 2017, @07:25AM
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by anubi on Monday January 16 2017, @08:07AM
Yes.
I am getting really fed up with ways of obfuscating responsibility. This kind of thing seems to encourage the worst in people.
The "lower classes" are kept in line by ensuring each is held responsible for their works. I believe in our "Pledge of Allegiance" in which we pledge allegiance to this country in exchange for justice for *all*. Those last three words are what make the contract complete, and if those last three words don't mean anything, the first three don't either.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 16 2017, @08:21AM
Europe - where its fine to sail the continent into a national security crisis with unfettered entry and rights for 'refugees' exceed those of generational citizens. And one of these days you will not be able to kick your Rumba. In Switzerland you already can't have a single pet as it constitutes "animal abuse". Europe has a dismal road ahead (as does the Useless of A).
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday January 16 2017, @09:07AM
[Citation needed]
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 16 2017, @03:35PM
Well, not a citation exactly [wikipedia.org], but I hope a cetacean will do on short notice for GP's comment.