Artificial Intelligence: EU To Debate Robots' Legal Rights After Committee Calls For Mandatory AI 'Kill Switches'

In his seminal book "Superintelligence," the Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom highlights the need to draft a set of rules to keep machines under human control much before an inevitable "intelligence explosion" occurs. European lawmakers, it seems, are listening. On Thursday, the European Parliament's legal affairs committee approved a wide-ranging report that outlines a possible framework under which humans would interact with AI and robots. Among other things, the report mulls over the need to create a specific legal status for robots -- one that designates them as "electronic persons" -- and the need for designers to incorporate a "kill switch" into their designs. In addition, the report also calls for the creation of a European agency for robotics and AI that would be capable of responding to new opportunities and challenges arising from technological advancements in robotics.