Last year the European Parliament passed a resolution to grant legal rights for the most sophisticated robots. But the proposal is being re-examined by the European Commission.
Over 150 industry experts in robotics, artificial intelligence, law, medical science and ethics looked into the matter weighing its pros and cons.
An open letter to the European Commission reads: “Creating a specific legal status for robots in the long run, so that at least the most sophisticated autonomous robots could be established as having the status of electronic persons responsible for making good any damage they may cause, and possibly applying electronic personality to cases where robots make autonomous decisions or otherwise interact with third parties independently.”
An expert in the ethics of robotics at Artois University in France Nathalie Nevejans was one among the letter signatories, who strongly believes granting legal personality is ‘as unhelpful as it is inappropriate,’ reported CNN Tech.