Robot ethics and law: Part two: law

Abstract

Purpose

This is the second part of a two-part paper which aims to provide an insight into the ethical and legal issues surrounding certain classes of robot. This part is concerned with law.

Design/methodology/approach

Following an introduction, this paper first describes the European RoboLaw project and then considers legal issues and activities relating to civilian airborne drones, driverless road vehicles and assistive robots. It concludes with a short discussion.

Findings

The legal issues associated with many classes of robot are the topic of much debate, and efforts are underway to create appropriate legislative frameworks. A project is presently seeking to create a framework for the development of a Europe-wide “Robolaw” and in certain cases, laws are already being formulated to accommodate recent robotic developments. These deliberations are rapidly gaining pace and are now also considering future generations of highly autonomous and intelligent robots.

Originality/value

This paper provides an insight into the highly topical and complex issue of robot law.

Citation

Bogue, R. (2014), "Robot ethics and law: Part two: law", Industrial Robot, Vol. 41 No. 5, pp. 398-402. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-04-2014-0332