Asimov’s Three Laws Come Closer to Reality

iwNEWS

Asimov had only three laws governing robots, following in the wake of Europe and South Korea, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry has sixty pages of rules.

Korea plans to adopt the world’s first robot ethics code that bans humans from abusing robots and vice versa.

The charter, which will be adopted near the end of this year, will be applied to both humans and robots.

It will be based on the "Three Laws of Robotics” put forward by U.S. science fiction author Isaac Asimov in 1942. The laws ban robots from attacking humans, require them to obey human orders and preserve their own existence.

A 12-member panel consisting of lawyers, government officials, scientists, medical doctors, and a psychologist will draft the ethics code.

Lee Jang-han, professor of psychology at Chungang University and a panel member, said the committee will find a way to have robots abide by the ethics of human society.

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has drafted guidelines designed to keep future generations of robots on their best behavior, as well.

The document, titled Draft Guidelines to Secure the Safe Performance of Next Generation Robots, calls for the Japanese government to convene a panel of industrialists, academics, ministry officials and lawyers to create stricter measures governing the development of advanced robotic machines, The Times of London reported.

The draft proposal demands that robots be equipped with the means for logging and communicating any injuries they cause to the people they are meant to be helping or protecting. It calls for a central database of all recorded incidents of humans harmed by robots, and demands that it be accessible by all robot-makers.

After a yet more convoluted process of public consultation, the ministry will draft, as early as May, a set of principles to which all robots must conform.