Protecting people rather than property or animals will be the priority under pioneering new German legal guidelines for the operation of driverless cars, the transport ministry said on Wednesday. Germany is home to some of the world's largest car companies, including Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW, all of which are investing heavily in self-driving technology. German regulators have been working on rules for how such vehicles should be programmed to deal with a dilemma, such as choosing between hitting a cyclist or accelerating beyond legal speeds to avoid an accident. Mercedes EQ electric car concept: German regulators have been working on rules for how such vehicles should be programmed to deal with a dilemma, such as choosing between hitting a cyclist or accelerating beyond legal speeds to avoid an accident. When an accident is unavoidable, the software must choose whichever action will hurt people the least, even if that means destroying property or hitting animals in the road, a transport ministry statement showed.

Asimove's first law of robotics has been broken, writes an anonymous reader, sharing this article from Fast Company: A Berkeley, California man wants to start a robust conversation among ethicists, philosophers, lawyers, and others about where technology is going -- and what dangers robots will present humanity in the future. Alexander Reben, a roboticist and artist, has built a tabletop robot whose sole mechanical purpose is to hurt people… The harm caused by Reben's robot is nothing more than a pinprick, albeit one delivered at high speed, causing the maximum amount of pain a small needle can inflict on a fingertip. Though the pinpricks are delivered randomly, "[O]nce something exists in the world, you have to confront it. It becomes more urgent," says the robot's creator. "You can't just pontificate about it…. " But the article raises an interesting question.

Asimov's First Law of Robotics is very clear: Robots may not harm people. Although there are certainly plenty of large robots, often used in manufacturing, that one would have to consider dangerous, roboticists have generally hewed to that rule. The "law," penned by science-fiction giant Isaac Asimov in his 1942 short story Runaround, was one of three rules, the second of which reads, "A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law." To be sure, accidents involving robots happen, like when someone gets too close to an industrial robot. But now a Berkeley, California man wants to start a robust conversation among ethicists, philosophers, lawyers, and others about where technology is going--and what dangers robots will present humanity in the future.