Rights for robots

Sth Korea to draw up ethical code on treatment of robots

[Syzygy]

Well, it's happening...

An ethical code to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa, is being drawn up by South Korea. The Robot Ethics Charter will cover standards for users and manufacturers and will be released later in 2007.

"Imagine if some people treat androids as if the machines were their wives," Park Hye-Young of the ministry's robot team told the AFP news agency.

Other bodies are also thinking about the robotic future. Last year a UK government study predicted that in the next 50 years robots could demand the same rights as human beings.

The European Robotics Research Network is also drawing up a set of guidelines on the use of robots.

From the BBC [news.bbc.co.uk]

Syzygy

[LifeinAsia]

Does that mean webmasters will be sued if they have a robots.txt file that blocks files or directories because robots won't have the same visitation "rights" as humans?

Okay, who will be the first members of:
- SPCR: Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Robots
- NAARP: National Assn. for the Advancement of Robotic People
- PETR: People for the Ethical Treatment of Robots
- AAARP: American Assn. of Androids and Robotic Persons
- RUST: Robots United for Sensible Treatment

Either that, or the Terminator movies got it wrong and SKYNET will be a robots civil rights group.

[treeline]

Quick! Abuse your robots while you still can.

I hope we don't have to start paying them minimum wage and allowing coffee breaks next.

[balam]

> "Imagine if some people treat androids as if the machines were their wives,"

Whoa...! My first thought on that statement is that South Korea needs to come up with an ethical code for the treatment of South Korean wives. I know if I were (stupid enough) to start treating the vacuum cleaner better than my girlfriend, well, I'd be single! (But the house would be spotless!)