Cobot: Coworker Robot. How do you think we will fare when the ‘new guy’ at work is a machine? As these machines become increasingly intelligent and closer to sentience, how will we share the spoils of our labour? Will we have the same rights in the workplace?
The trouble is that although we seem to always have people who can think ahead and see how laws will have unintended consequences, those people tend to not be the ones drafting legislation, at least in America. We have a system of legal precedent and a culture of ignoring the potential consequences of future precedent.
Sorry to be gloomy. I just think the only way we’re going to get robots and AI onto the right side of history is with a fight. They represent a lot of promise, but also upheaval.