European Parliament to vote on proposal granting robots legal status

Members of the European Parliament have agreed to vote on a proposal that would see robots granted legal status as “electronic persons” and have warned laws are needed to ensure machines are held responsible for “acts or omissions”.

Socialist MEP Mady Delvaux-Stehres, from Luxembourg, tabled the draft report which describes current rules as “insufficient” for changes in technology and calls for “roboethical principles” to be established.

The Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee passed Ms Delvaux-Stehres’s resolution and a vote by the full Parliament on it will likely take place next month.

According to the report, artificial intelligence will “unleash a new industrial revolution, which is likely to leave no stratum of society untouched”.

It adds: “The more autonomous robots are, the less they can be considered simple tools in the hands of other actors (such as the manufacturer, the owner, the user, etc.).

“This, in turn, makes the ordinary rules on liability insufficient and calls for new rules which focus on how a machine can be held – partly or entirely – responsible for its acts or omissions.

“As a consequence, it becomes more and more urgent to address the fundamental question of whether robots should possess a legal status.”

After the committee vote, Ms Delvaux-Stehres, said: “A growing number of areas of our daily lives are increasingly affected by robotics.

“In order to ensure that robots are and will remain in the service of humans, we urgently need to create a robust European legal framework.”