Robot

Do you think robots will be useful in the future or will they create problems? Why/why not?

European politicians want rules for robots 23 January 2017

European politicians want to make rules for how robots should behave in the future. The rules in the document, which was written by Luxembourg MEP Mady Delvaux, may be used to say exactly what robots can and can't do.

In the document, the author writes that there will be jobs that robots have to do because of the rules, and if they cause accidents or break things, they will have to do something to fix it. The author says she believes the world will soon see a robot revolution, and we should be ready for it.

The people that design the robots will have to make it possible for users to turn off the power. If not, it's possible that the robots could take control of themselves and cause problems.

The rules about robots will be for the makers, designers and users of the robots because they can't be made into machine code. Some of the rules say that a robot should not hurt a human, should follow orders, and should defend itself. But it can only do this if it doesn't break any of the other rules.

The document says that people could make a lot of money from robots. However, robots will also take some jobs, so countries might need to give everyone a small amount of money for living.

The document also says that in the future it is possible that robots will be more intelligent than humans, which could be dangerous. For safety reasons, designers might have to register their robots, as well as give some code to people which they can use if their robots cause accidents. They may also have to get permission for new robots.

The author of the document believes that robots will have a place in the future, and that humans will work together with them. She said: "A robot is not a human and will never be human."

Watch the video about a delivery robot and answer questions.

Writing

If you could invent a robot, what would it be, and what work would you want it to do?