Europe is prepping for a world where robots need rights

With every new innovation in the artificial intelligence space, it becomes even more tempting to imagine a near future filled with humanoid robots ready and willing to accomplish any task. After all, that's what we've been promised by sci-fi movies and books for years. But once our future artificially intelligent robot overlords assistants are ingrained in society and inevitably tangled up in the stickier aspects of the human experience, what legal rights are they due, if any? It's a central question at speculative panels for futurists -- but a proposal approved by the European Parliament's Legal Affairs committee today will actually bring the debate to legislative bodies, according to CNN. The proposal was spurred by an extensive report on robotics and the law, brought to the committee of Legal Affairs by Luxembourg MEP Mady Delvaux. After being approved, it will be considered by the European Commission. The report claims we're on the verge of AI breakthroughs "poised to unleash a new industrial revolution, which is likely to leave no stratum of society untouched."