UK Govt study: equal rights for robots and much more
By John Pospisil
A research paper commissioned by the UK Government has suggested that robots may be self aware and be demanding equal rights by 2056. The paper also predicts that robots will be increasingly used for war and housekeeping, and may even have brains provided by rats.
What would Einstein think about robots with rat brains?
The paper was arranged by the UK Government’s chief scientist Sir David King, and was undertaken through the UK Government’s Horizon Scanning Centre, which commissioned two complementary scans looking ahead up to 50 years: the Sigma Scan and the Delta Scan.
“We’re not in the business of predicting the future, but we do need to explore the broadest range of different possibilities to help ensure government is prepared in the long term and considers issues across the spectrum in its planning,” said Sir King.
The scans looked at a range of science, technology and public policy issues, and were carried out by Outsights - Ipsos MORI and the Institute for the Future (IFTF).
If you believe some of the other predictions in the scans, robots may have good cause to ask for rights, with the Sigma scan predicting that robots will be used in hazardous, dull, dirty and dangerous tasks, including war:
“… robots may increasingly take a dominant role in warfare, with swarms able to seize airspace control, besiege ports and attack amphibiously, possibly as biological-silicon hybrids that are difficult to “kill”.
Other scary predictions include robots controlled by rat brains:
“A new class of robots could emerge from work using animal neurons to control machinery. For example, the Hybrot, a machine controlled by rat neurons sealed in a dish spiked with micro-electrodes. This “brain” grows more complex as it learns and interacts with the outside world. The work could spawn an entirely new class of adaptable robot combatants.”
The bright side is that most of us will have robots that can do our housework, according to the paper.
Perhaps it’s not my place to say this, but haven’t these kinds predictions already been made by science fiction writers and film/television directors? What about Blade Runner, I Robot, Terminator, the Matrix, Battlestar Galactica and such like.
We need to ask ourselves whether we really want self-aware, rat-brained robots that are trained to kill - even if they can do the housework? Haven’t scientists seen Battlestar Galactica? Is the future of humanity really worth risking for the sake of a clean house?
Jokes aside, both the Delta and Sigma Scans have been published and are available from www.sigmascan.org and www.deltascan.org.
Related:
Entry was posted
on Thursday, December 21st, 2006 at 8:01 am
under 
Print This Post
Read more entries by John Pospisil.
Stumble It!
