Lawyers for Robots???
Here’s a great article that I found in the SF Chronicle the other day on the future role of robots in our lives. It speaks of the legal implications of robots as they become more and more involved in our lives. It raises an interesting question though. One that many overlook as we think of the reality of modern robotics as opposed to living in the fantasy “Terminator 2″ world. More specifically, as robots become more and more autonomous, if something goes wrong…say a robot breaks a person’s arm or harm’s a child, or worse yet… kills someone… who takes responsibility? The maker? The distributor? The robot itself? The article raises a great question… if the robot makers are faced with multimillion dollar lawsuits for the actions of autonomous robots, they may be less inclined to develop them. With other countries with less strict laws…or actually a public less inclined to sue…as we have here in America, we might find ourselves falling behind in the field of autonomous robotics. Well, at least ones that directly interact with the general public. Food for thought…
