An international team of scientists and academics will publish a "code of ethics" for robots and machines as they become more and more sophisticated.
Verruggio and his colleagues have identified key areas that include: ensuring human control of robots; preventing illegal use; protecting data acquired by robots; and establishing clear identification and traceability of the machines.
Isaac Asimov drew up laws for robotics years ago that any science fiction fan can recite from memory
• Robot may not injure human or, through inaction, allow human to come to harm
• Robot must obey human orders, unless they conflict with first law
• Robot must protect itself if this does not conflict with other laws.
It's quite likely that people will be having sex with robots in a few years. After all some people will have sex with anything.
Even though robots will have sophisticated self-learning mechanisms, I am convinced that robots will never achieve consciousness in the way we understand consciousness as including the full range of emotional experience.
Posted by Jill Fallon at June 20, 2006 12:36 PM | Permalink