• Question: will robots take over the earth?

    Asked by james-peters pokemaster to Steven on 17 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Steven Thomson

      Steven Thomson answered on 17 Jun 2015:

      I hope not!

      At the moment, robots aren’t advanced enough to do so, but in the future if we developed artificial intelligence (AI) and better robot bodies, some people are worried about this.

      The science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov thought about this way back in the 1950s and he developed the Three Laws of Robotics to ensure that robots could never harm humanity. A lot of people agree that if we build robots, we should program them with the Three Laws and that way we’ll be safe from them.

      The Three Laws are, in Asimov’s own words:

      1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
      2) A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
      3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws

      So these laws should keep us safe!

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