Boffins debate robot rights

LONDON'S SCIENCE MUSEUM will today (Tuesday) play host to scientists debating the ethical treatment of robots. Citing the example of a military robot built by Samsung which comes complete with a machine gun, the public debate aims to outline areas in which intelligent, autonomous robots will find a use. These range from vacuuming the living room to caring for the elderly (machine gun optional).

The boffins will discuss just who is to blame if an intelligent robot kills someone - is it the designer, the manufacturer, the operator or the machine itself? They also call into question research published last year which claims that robots should be given the same rights as humans.

Having just disposed of a large quantity of IT equipment myself, robot rights could mean that we can never throw away a computer again - we'll need to set up old robots' homes for them to live in in the twilight of their years.

Or just stuff them in a sack and chuck them in the canal when no one's looking - unless it has a machine gun, in which case it can do pretty much what it damned well pleases. µ

L'Inq
London Science Museum