Issac Asimov has a rival. Luxembourg MEP Mady Delvaux has, together with the European Parliament’s legal service, drawn up her own Laws of Robotics—and the report is eminently sensible, despite alarmist claims.
It makes reference to Asimov’s three laws, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Prague’s Golem. “People have fantasised about the possibility of building intelligent machines, more often than not androids with human features; AI seem poised to unleash a new industrial revolution, which is likely to leave no stratum of society untouched, it is vitally important for the legislature to consider all its implications,” the 22-page report said.
Science fiction elements also feature: “Ultimately there is a possibility that within the space of some decades artificial intelligence might surpass human intellectual capacity in a manner which, if not prepared for, could pose a challenge to humanity’s capacity to control its own creation and consequently perhaps also to its capacity to be in charge of its own destiny and to ensure the survival of its species.”
It went on to say that autonomous and semi-autonomous robots don’t easily fall into any of the existing legal categories—natural persons, legal persons, animals, or objects—in terms of rights and liabilities. The report calls on the European Commission to propose a common definition of smart autonomous robots. Here’s a key passage:
