Berlin, Germany thinks lawsuits involving humans are tricky? Try taking smart robots to court.
While the human-like, all-powerful capabilities of autonomous robots are decades away, European lawmakers, legal experts and manufacturers are already embroiled in a high-stakes debate about their legal status: Whether these machines or humans should They take the ultimate responsibility for the action.
The battle dates back to an in-depth passage from a European Parliament report in early 2017, which suggested that self-taught robots could be granted "electronic personalities". This state allows robots to be individually insured and liable for damage if they go rogue and start harming others or damaging property.
Those pushing for the legal change, including some manufacturers and their affiliates, say the proposal is common sense. They say legal people won't turn robots into virtual people who can marry and benefit from human rights. It just makes them the same as companies that already have "legal status" and are treated by courts around the world.
But as robotics and artificial intelligence become hot-button political issues on both sides of the Atlantic, the environmental protection ministry and the vice-chairman of the European Parliament's legal affairs committee, as well as other proponents of legal change, have faced tough opposition. A group of 156 artificial intelligence experts from 14 European countries, including computer scientists, law professors and chief executives, warned in a letter to the European Commission, which is expected to be released on Thursday, that legal entities awarding robots Status and "Legal and Ethical Perspectives."
In contrast, the latest developments enable machines to perform tasks that previously required human thought. Current state-of-the-art technology enables computers to learn and make their own decisions by imitating and diffusing human brain patterns. Legislator concern: Will such a complex process turn the machine into a "black box" whose decision-making process is incomprehensible or even impossible to comprehend, making it difficult for litigants to seek to assign legal responsibility for issues to the law?
That's why advocates argue that Europe should give robots their own "legitimate status" rather than burden manufacturers or owners. She added that the current model, where manufacturers, owners or both are responsible, will fail in the era of fully autonomous robots, and the EU should give robots some "corporate-like legal personality". (Source: Hacker Weekly, welcome to share)