Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Monday January 16 2017, @07:03AM   Printer-friendly
from the sentience-is-a-state-of-mind dept.

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.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 16 2017, @08:21AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 16 2017, @08:21AM (#454303)

    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).

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   -1  
       Offtopic=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Offtopic' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   -1  
  • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday January 16 2017, @09:07AM

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Monday January 16 2017, @09:07AM (#454315) Journal

    [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

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 16 2017, @03:35PM (#454390)

      Well, not a citation exactly [wikipedia.org], but I hope a cetacean will do on short notice for GP's comment.