The Big Robot Questions

The social, legal, and ethical problems posed by the coming robotics revolution.

 

By Patrick Lin|Posted Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, at 10:06 AM ET

Sometimes, the creation is better than its creator. Robots today perform surgeries, shoot people, fly planes, drive cars, replace astronauts, baby-sit kids, build cars, fold laundry, have sex, and can even eat (but not human bodies, the manufacturer insists). They might not always do these tasks well, but they are improving rapidly. In exchange for such irresistible benefits, the Robotic Revolution also demands that we adapt to new risks and responsibilities.

(Fuente:  Photograph by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images. --http://www.slate.com--)

This adaptation to new technology is nothing new. The Industrial Revolution brought great benefits and challenges too, from affordable consumer goods to manufacturing pollution. Likewise, we’re reaping the benefits of the Computer Revolution but also still sorting out ethics and policy arising from it, such as online privacy and intellectual property rights.

If you believe Bill Gates, who says that the robotics industry is now at the point the computer industry was 30 years ago, then we’ll be soon grappling with difficult questions about how to build robots into our society. Here are three key fronts we’ll need to defend.

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