Notes on the Introduction to Robot Law and AI (R_RLAI)
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Course
Robot Law and Artificial Intelligence (R_RLAI)
Institution
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)
What is a robot? What are the elements of a robot? Who is liable for robots? What legal challenges does AI pose for the law? What is law? Who should govern the development of AI? Who is accountable for AI? Detailed notes surrounding the discussion about robots and the law.
Robot Law and Artificial Intelligence
Week 1 – Lecture 1: Introduction
Read: https://canvas.vu.nl/courses/56787/pages/1-introduction-
robots-law-literature?module_item_id=582225
What is a robot?
Thinking about robots inspires thought about ourselves as
humans. A robot is a man-made object, capable of responding
to external stimuli and acting on the world without requiring
direct – some might say constant – human control. Elements
include:
- Some sort of sensor or input mechanism, without which
there can be no stimulus to react to.
- Some controlling algorithm or other system that will
govern the responses to the sensed data.
- Some ability to respond in a way that affects or at least is
noticeable by the world outside the robot itself.
Example
Kasper – A care robot which consists of a small minimally
expressive humanoid robot that encourages children with
low functioning autism to interact with the robot to break
their isolation and importantly, to facilitate their
communication skills.
Crucial elements of a robot
1. Physical form
o Excluding software bots
2. Machine / artefact
o Excluding enhanced humans
3. Independency
o No human secretly pulling the strings
o Excluding most drones
4. Agency
o How do we address agency? Is it even possible?
Humans
Free will|? Agency?
We like to think that we have free will and are in control of
making our decisions. We like to think of ourselves as
autonomous. But are we? Some of the literature suggests
, otherwise. Kahneman suggests humans are easily
manipulated, which undermines the concept of free will.
Emotions?
We have emotions, but Harari suggests emotions are
biological algorithms.
Human dignity?
There are two opposing views of human dignity: as
autonomy or as a constraint. Human dignity could be said
to be obtained automatically, due to being born as a
human being. But what does it actually mean?
Singularity?
AI may become smarter and more intelligent than
humans. What happens then?
What is law?
Law can be seen as a solution for the state of nature. It doesn’t
tend to be a coherent, comprehensive system and is often
messy and full of contradictions and gaps. It aims for justice
and fairness by implementing moral intuitions and human
rights. It is produced and enforced mostly by sovereignty nation
states.
The task for the law is to protect humans’ rights and human
interests. It should stimulate the economy and technological
development. It should enable cooperation between humans by
aligning expectations, creating order, and providing trust so
that taking the law into your own hands is not necessary.
Examples of challenges for the law
- Liability when something goes wrong (self-driving cars).
- Algorithmic accountability.
- Respect for human dignity and integrity (sex and care
robots).
Legal instruments can include banning something completely,
requiring a license so that certain requirements can be set,
stimulating developments, imposing liability or insurance and
international agreements. Enforcement is often the biggest
challenge.
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