Autonomous Robot Intentionally Hurts People To Make Them Bleed (fastcompany.com)

Asimove's first law of robotics has been broken, writes an anonymous reader, sharing this article from Fast Company: A Berkeley, California man wants to start a robust conversation among ethicists, philosophers, lawyers, and others about where technology is going -- and what dangers robots will present humanity in the future. Alexander Reben, a roboticist and artist, has built a tabletop robot whose sole mechanical purpose is to hurt people... The harm caused by Reben's robot is nothing more than a pinprick, albeit one delivered at high speed, causing the maximum amount of pain a small needle can inflict on a fingertip.
Though the pinpricks are delivered randomly, "[O]nce something exists in the world, you have to confront it. It becomes more urgent," says the robot's creator. "You can't just pontificate about it.... " But the article raises an interesting question. Is he responsible for the pain which his robot inflicts?

Comments

Re: It's irrelevant, really.

[sg_oneill]

Actually it does serve a purpose , it's designed to get people talking about ethics and robotics. And here we are. It's not an idle concern either. Increasingly research into AI has been funded by defence industries towards autonomous drones and the like. That's robots killing people. God help us if they ever develop general AI and then weaponise it