A few months ago, in January 2018, the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee approved a report that outlines a possible legal framework to regulate the interactions between a) humans, and b) robots and Artificial Intelligence systems. The report is quite revolutionary. It proposes, e.g., giving certain types of robots and AI systems personhood, as "electronic persons": These electronic persons would have rights and obligations, and the report suggests that they should obey Isaac Asimov's Laws of Robotics. The report also advises that the manufacturers of robots and AI systems should build in a'kill switch' to be able to deactivate them. Another recommendation is that a European Agency for Robotics and AI be established that would be capable of responding to new opportunities and challenges arising from technological advancements in robotics. The EU is not alone in its desire to regulate AI: similar (though less far reaching) reports were published in Japan and in the UK.

A few months ago, in January 2018, the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee approved a report that outlines a possible legal framework to regulate the interactions between a) humans, and b) robots and Artificial Intelligence systems. The report is quite revolutionary. It proposes, e.g., giving certain types of robots and AI systems personhood, as "electronic persons": These electronic persons would have rights and obligations, and the report suggests that they should obey Isaac Asimov's Laws of Robotics. The report also advises that the manufacturers of robots and AI systems should build in a'kill switch' to be able to deactivate them. Another recommendation is that a European Agency for Robotics and AI be established that would be capable of responding to new opportunities and challenges arising from technological advancements in robotics. The EU is not alone in its desire to regulate AI: similar (though less far reaching) reports were published in Japan and in the UK.

For the past few years, we've shared predictions each December on what we believe will be the top ten technology policy issues for the year ahead. As this year draws to a close, we are looking out a bit further. It gives us all an opportunity to reflect upon the past ten years and consider what the 2020s may bring. As we concluded in our book, Tools and Weapons: The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age, "Technology innovation is not going to slow down. The work to manage it needs to speed up." Digital technology has gone longer with less regulation than virtually any major technology before it. This dynamic is no longer sustainable, and the tech sector will need to step up and exercise more responsibility while governments catch up by modernizing tech policies. In short, the 2020s will bring sweeping regulatory changes to the world of technology. Tech is at a crossroads, and to consider why, it helps to start with the changes in technology itself. The 2010s saw four trends intersect, collectively transforming how we work, live and learn. Continuing advances in computational power made more ambitious technical scenarios possible both for devices and servers, while cloud computing made these advances more accessible to the world. Like the invention of the personal computer itself, cloud computing was as important economically as it was technically. The cloud allows organizations of any size to tap into massive computing and storage capacity on demand, paying for the computing they need without the outlay of capital expenses. More powerful computers and cloud economics combined to create the third trend, the explosion of digital data.

Horizon asked a selection of scientists featured in the magazine last year for their opinion on priorities for 2020. READ: Prosperity is about more than money. But what else should count? '2020 is a super-year for international policy action,' said Sandrine Dixson-Declève, co-president of global think tank the Club of Rome and chair of an expert EU group on the economic and societal impact of research (ESIR). An oceans treaty will be agreed, biodiversity targets announced, it's the first opportunity for nations to increase their climate goals, and the start of the decade to scale action for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, she says.

AI is set to replace many human jobs in the future, but should lawyers and judges be among them? Here we explore where AI is already being used in judicial systems around the world and discuss if it should play a more senior role. Could, or should, AI ever be developed that could pass judgment on a living, breathing human being? RELATED: CHINA HAS UNVEILED AN AI JUDGE THAT WILL'HELP' WITH COURT PROCEEDINGS Believe it or not, AI and some forms of advanced-algorithms are already widely used in many judicial systems around the world. In the various states within the United States, for example, predictive algorithms are already being used to help reduce the load on the judicial system.

The woman startled at the blessing. In English: "I have called you by name; you are mine!" It may not have been the words themselves that caused her to jump. The blessing, taken from the biblical book of Isaiah, has comforted many for thousands of years. It may have been the source of the benediction: A robot built on the body of an ATM machine, whose plastic fingers sprung open and palms lit up as it raised its mechanic hands in blessing, brightening an otherwise gray, rainy day in mid-June.

Since the Me Too movement came to prominence in late 2017, more and more attention is paid to incidents of sexual harassment, including workplace harassment and harassment through email or instant messaging. As reported by The Guardian, AI researchers and engineers have been creating tools to detect harassment through text communications, dubbed MeTooBots. MeTooBots are being implemented by companies around the world in order to flag potentially harmful and harassing communications. One example of this is a bot created by the company Nex AI, which is currently being used by around 50 different companies. The bot utilizes an algorithm that examines company documents, chat and emails and compares it to its training data of bullying or harassing messages.

The European patent authorities have rejected an attempt to register an AI as an official inventor. The possibility's been a subject of debate for some time, and last summer a group of legal experts decided to force the issue. The group, led by Professor Ryan Abbott of the University of Surrey, submitted designs developed by an AI to the authorities in the US, UK and Europe, and later Germany, Israel, Taiwan and China. The AI concerned, named Dabus, was created by Stephen Thaler, and is described as a connectionist artificial intelligence. A second system of neural networks detects critical consequences of these potential ideas and reinforces them based upon predicted novelty and salience.'

I've been a technology activist for decades now, and I've read innumerable profound and enduring critiques of technology. In recent years, though, artificial intelligence has come under more fire than most developing trends. The pronouncements, hype, and foolishness surrounding it have risen to heights that stand out even by the outlandish standards of tech absurdity. Like me, you've probably encountered some of the better, smarter critiques along with all the silliness and insanity. Some of the greats are Cathy O'Neil's outstanding 2016 book Weapons of Math Destruction, and the excellent research reports from the nonprofit AI Now institute, and also Patrick Ball's spectacular papers published through the essential and dreadfully under-resourced Human Rights Data Analysis Group.

Three indicators that are so powerful they could change U.S. business and political landscapes in ... [ ] 2020. While culture shift moves at a snail's pace, change itself is built on societal indicators that, occurring consistently over time, make way for something new. In hindsight, it's easy to see how and why cultural change occurred: the industrial revolution resulting in the creation of a middle class and (eventually) child labor laws; the civil rights movement in the U.S. making racial discrimination, disenfranchisement and segregation illegal; and, most recently, how technology has shrunk the world and put global information at our fingertips. But what indicators predict opportunities for a massive societal shift in 2020? Having spent the last year researching, interviewing and writing in this space, I'm reflecting on indicators I've seen.