Members of the European Union (EU) back a draft resolution to give legal status to robots. If we want to understand this proposal, we need to look at corporations which carry legal responsibility but aren't recognised as having human rights or seen as individuals.
The proposal was put forward by a socialist MEP from Luxembourg Mady Delvaux-Stehres, whose resolution was passed by the EU Parliament's legal affairs committee and a vote on the resolution will probably take place in February. A growing number of areas in our daily lives are increasingly affected by robotics.
Andrea Bertolini, Professor of Private Law at the University of Pisa, states that if we want to understand this proposal, we need to look at corporations. He declares that robots may be treated like that in the proximate future. He also believes that there would always be a human being behind a robot that would bear the consequences of the harm it may inflict.
The members of European Parliament have stated that EU-wide rules are needed to exploit all the economic potential of artificial intelligence and robotics and guarantee a good level of safety and security. They stated that the EU needs to take the lead on regulatory standards about robots, so as not to be forced to follow those set by other states.
Sales of robots increased by 29 percent in 2014, compared to an average growth of 17 percent between 2010 and 2014. Annual patent filings for robotics technology have increased three times over the past decade. There is also a growing demand for the driverless vehicles which could reduce the number of road accidents by up to 90 percent.
