Laws of Robotics

Asimov proposed the three "Laws of Robotics", and he later added a 'zeroth law' which are given as under below:

• Law Zero: A robot may not injure humanity, or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
• Law One: A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, unless this would violate a higher order law.
• Law Two: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with a higher order law.
• Law Three: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with a higher order law.

Comments:

♦ The MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System) provide machine gun

to robots which cause humans to kill. This opposes the laws given by Asimov.

♦ The point here is that much of the funding for robotic research, now a days,

comes from the military, which is paying for robots that follow the very opposite

of Asimov's laws. It wants robots that can kill, won't take orders from

just any human, and don't care about their own existences.

♦ Law number two is appropriate for robots but they are required to have as much

judgment as an adult human to evaluate the fitness of a human who gives them

orders. They should obey only privileged humans.

♦ We see our automobiles kill a number of people in road accidents. If we provide

AI (Artificial Intelligence) to our automobile, it can save lives.

♦ The third law says a robot MUST be capable of self protection but not so

protective as to disobey their key holders or to corrupt their own operating system

parameters that make them meet the “highest legal and professional standards of

safety and ethics”. They ignore Asimov’s first law, which was the point of the

whole thing after all.