The EU has made several proposals to regulate robots. They wants them to pay taxes and stick to the laws of robotics, among other things. Artificial Intelligence implanted in robots that threatens to become omnipresent in society. For this purpose European Union has set to work to regulate and control its uses.
Six robotics laws have been drafted through the European Parliament to regulate their interaction with EU citizens and businesses. The legal framework should still be discussed by the European Commission, the executive body of the Union. There they will decide whether or not to regulate the robots to cause the minimum possible misalignment in their process of implementation in society.
How Laws of Robotics Proposed by The European Union
Obviously, we first talk about jobs. It is estimated that millions of current jobs could disappear as a result of using artificial intelligence as it’s automate processes. The clearest example is not only in factories and manufacturing, but also in taxis and trucks, which are directly threatened by the arrival of autonomous vehicles.
To prevent the impact from giving rise to major problems, the EU proposes a number of laws on robotics that may be curious and will doubtless appeal to the more liberal sector of the economy.
Every robot must have an emergency switch
Artificial Intelligence has the ability to train and become more and more intelligent. We know this because Google has communicated that theirs does it in online games against human players. In this situation, the logical question is whether AI can become so intelligent as to constitute a danger.
The answer, according to the EU, is that it does. That is why one of his first proposals consists of an emergency switch to deactivate the robot if necessary.
Robot can’t do harm
This law consists of a mere variant of the well-known Laws of Robotics of Asimov, only in European and real version. It is an extension of the previous section, which would be expressly forbidden to create robots that are intended to harm humans. From Parliament they seem to have thought that, if there are already laws that regulate the problem, it is not necessary to create them again. Just adapt them.
Forbidden to create emotional bonds with them
Humanoid robots do not have feelings, at least for the moment, but being in continuous contact with them can lead you to think so. It is the plot of the Oscar-winning film her, to which the EU seems to give some credibility. More than a law, it is a reminder. Artificial Intelligence is not capable of loving and you should not think otherwise.
Compulsory insurance for the larger ones
Both the manufacturer and the owner of the robot will be responsible for any problems it may cause. That is why the EU will oblige to take out accident insurance similar to that of cars. Not all androids or artificial intelligence interfaces will have to have a policy, only the larger ones or with greater potential to cause damage in the event of a programming failure.
Robots will have rights and obligations
“Electronic people” is the legal figure chosen by the person in charge of preparing the report of the European Parliament to define devices driven by Artificial Intelligence. That they are called, even with the surname, “people”, implies that they will have rights and obligations.
It remains to be seen how the future letter of rights of the robots will be configured, if there is one. It is speculated that it will mean that they are responsible to the law of their acts, along with its owner and developer.
They must pay taxes
It is one of the most controversial points in the EU’s proposals for legislation on robotics. In order to reduce the social impact of unemployment caused by robots, Parliament proposes that they should pay social security contributions and pay taxes as if they were natural persons.
By producing a surplus value with their work, they generate an economic benefit. To avoid that the box of the different states must assume the search of the business benefit with the substitution of workers by software, these two tax figures are the official recommendation.
There is also talk in the report on universal basic income, which would help alleviate the transition from an economic model based on human labor to the almost complete mechanization of labor.