===== The Need for AI and Robot Laws to Ensure Safety in Autonomous Decision-making ===== By [[yiler-huang|Yiler Huang]] In our project this semester, our class was given the overarching topic of space travel and space exploration. One of our teams was tasked with designing a space colony. Because we want to make the life of people on the colony easier, we will need to have some robots and AI to do some jobs for us. Our own team was designing laws for robots for the colony. Robots in the colony will need a set of laws in order to keep humans away from danger or even make their life happier. We need some laws that could control all the robots in our colony, because we don’t want people ordering robots to do illegal things or doing non-standard things without being allowed to. In the novel I, Robot (Asimov,1950) there are three laws that control robots in the novel. I think these three rules are already enough for not letting robots destroy our colony or any human. According to Asimov, these rules are: - A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. - A robot must obey the orders given by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. - A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. Additionally, an extra one was added by Asimov after I, Robot was published: 0. A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm. (Which means that robots can not harm the future of the human race, so they won’t destroy and replace humans.) The author of this article believes these four laws are already sufficient for the needs imagined at that time in history. However, in Anderson, M. R’s (2017)research, he thinks that the three laws were too old and needed to be updated. In the article, After 75 years, Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics need updating (Anderson, 2017), author Mark said, “...one of the obvious issues is that robots today appear to be far more varied than those in Asimov’s stories, including some that are far more simple.” However, the points talked about in that article are more related to questions such as “should robot babies or robots made out of protein also follow the rule.” Therefore, our project research team redesigned and made some extra laws for the robots to follow. These new laws are based on Asimov’s original laws. ====Laws for Robots and AI in Our Colony==== The main function of the colony is to keep people alive and happy, and to build a place for humans to live if something bad happens to Earth. The amendments laws of robotics and AI devised by this research group include: “A robot needs special access if they need to injure other animals or human beings for their mission.” Another extra law is “A robot can not take a human's items without being allowed by the owner of the items as long as the owner can prove the item is theirs.” The next one is “A robot can not leave the colony without access from the system.” The final addition is “When a robot encounters a situation where it can not decide the proper action, it should send a message to the system.” ===“A robot needs special access if they need to injure other animals or human beings for their mission.”=== We made this law because robots might need to deal with dangerous people like criminals that are verified by police. We must let the robots break the first law in the Three Laws of Robotics if necessary. For example: a police assistance robot received a message from the police. The message says the robot needs to go catch a criminal who is currently on a street, and the message includes some necessary information about the criminal like how they look, how tall they are, their outfit etc. The maximum damage a robot may deal to humans is grade 1 of soft tissue injury (Usually mild and involves up to 10 percent of the muscle or ligament. Usually recovery will take a few days. According to the article Soft Tissue Injuries.), partial fracture of bone broken (An incomplete break of the bone. According to the article 10 Common Types of Bone Fractures—South Shore Orthopedics.), and can not injure the brain or spine. The police could also command the robot not to hurt the target, or deal injuries that have less or equal injury levels than the maximum. The reason I chose these levels of injuries was because I think robot’s purpose when getting a criminal caught was only to make the police work to make it easier to bring the criminal to where they should go (like police officer, jail, court etc). So robots shouldn’t deal damages that are hard or impossible to recover to the target. ===“A robot can not take a human's items without being allowed to by the owner of the items as long as the owner can prove the item is theirs.”=== This law prevents people from ordering robots to steal other’s items. But it only works when the owner of the item can prove that they are the owner. People can sign up their items with their ID, so robots can recognize what item is whose. For public items, the governments could designate some of the items, like trash cans or chairs in parks etc, as public property. The government could also designate some spaces as belonging to the public, like beaches, parks, stores etc. Therefore robots can not break the things there or do something like take out all the sands on a beach, get rid of grass in a park etc. ===“A robot can not leave the colony without access from the system written by a group of 20 people, who are decided by citizens through voting, controlling the system together..”=== We need this one because we need to keep our robots in the area that we could control, or people might order robots to go to somewhere that’s too far to connect to the system. The 20 people’s jobs is to write the system properly so it is fair and safe. Citizens in the colony could decide the 20 people by voting, they should be 20 out of the all the best researchers in the area of computer or AI. ==== Robotic Laws in our colony: ==== 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Unless it gets access from a system written by a group of 20 people, who are decided by citizens through voting, controlling the system together when there is an emergency situation or unusual situations that robots could not decide the next step for themselves. 2. A robot must obey the orders given by the owner (or owners) except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. However, a robot may not do anything except send a message to the system when it receives commands from multiple owners until the system commands it. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. 4. A robot can not take a human's items without being allowed by the owner of the items, as long as the owner of the item can prove they are the owner of the item (For example: receipt). Unless the choice of not taking the item is in conflict with law 1, 2, and 3. 5. A robot can not leave the colony without access from the system, even if given an order by its owner. The system has higher administrative power than the owner, but the owners of the robots could vote for who is going to control the system. 6. When A robot encounters a situation where it can not decide the proper action, it should send a message to the system and let the system give it the next step or action. 7. A robot may not do anything that againsts the existing human law. The final laws above are the laws for the colony, the first three are from I, Robot, and the other ones are designed based on the need and situation of the colony. The laws are mostly for protecting humans from being hurt, or preventing people from using robots to do some illegal things according to the existing laws. I think the last one is the most important one. Because even though we already have robotic laws, we will still need the robots or owners of the robots to follow the existing laws. I think these laws are pretty much enough for a moon colony. Because the purpose of having robots and AI is to make things more efficient, I think that would at least provide some happiness for humans. Then, robots do not have any ways to make people happy directly, because they don’t have the ability to feel and detect humans’ mood. I think the way robots could help with saving humans is keep humans safe so humans could have the ability to keep their own culture. The purpose of the colony is to make humans safe, happy, in order to keep the cultures of humans after something bad happened to Earth. I think these laws can produce enough safety for humans in the colony to stay alive. ===== 中文版 ===== 在本學期的項目中，我們班有一個關於太空旅行和太空探索的主題。我們其中一個小組的任務是設計一個太空殖民地。因為我們想讓殖民地上人們的生活得更舒適，我們需要有一些機器人和人工智慧來為我們做一些工作。我們自己的團隊正在為殖民地的機器人設計法律。殖民地的機器人需要一套法律，讓人類遠離危險，甚至使他們的生活更快樂。我們需要一些可以控制我們殖民地所有機器人的法律，因為我們不希望人們命令機器人去做非法的事情，或者在不被允許的情況下做奇怪的事情。 在小說《I, Robot》（Asimov,1950）中，有三條控制機器人的法律。我認為這三條規則已經足夠了，不會讓機器人破壞我們的殖民地或任何人類。根據阿西莫夫的說法，這些規則是 1.機器人不得傷害人類，或通過不作為讓人類受到傷害。 2.機器人必須服從人類的命令，除非這種命令與第一法則相衝突。 3.一個機器人必須保護自己的存在，只要這種保護不與第一或第二定律相衝突。 此外，在《I, Robot》出版後，阿西莫夫還額外增加了一條。 0. 機器人不得傷害人類，或通過不作為，讓人類受到傷害。 (也就是說，機器人不能傷害人類的未來，所以它們不會毀滅和取代人類)。 這篇文章的作者認為，這四條法律已經足以滿足歷史上那個時代所想像的需求。然而，在Anderson, M. R. (2017)的研究中，他認為這三條法律太老了，需要更新。在《After 75 years, Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics need updating》（Anderson, 2017）一文中，作者馬克說："......其中一個明顯的問題是，今天的機器人似乎比阿西莫夫故事中的機器人要多得多，包括一些更簡單的機器人。" 然而，那篇文章中談到的觀點與 "機器人嬰兒或由蛋白質製成的機器人是否也應遵循這一規則 "等問題更加相關。因此，我們的項目研究小組重新設計並製作了一些額外的法則供機器人遵循。這些新定律是基於阿西莫夫的原始定律。 ====我們殖民地中的機器人和人工智能的法則==== 殖民地的主要功能是保持人們的生活和快樂，並在地球發生不好的事情時為人類建立一個生活的地方。這個研究小組設計的機器人和人工智慧的修正法則包括。 「如果一個機器人為了完成任務需要傷害其他動物或人類，他們需要特殊的權限。 另一個額外的法律是 "機器人不能在沒有得到物品擁有者允許的情況下拿走人類的物品，只要擁有者能證明該物品是他們的。" 下一條是 "機器人不能在沒有來自系統的訪問下離開殖民地"。最後增加的內容是："當機器人遇到無法決定適當行動的情況時，它應該向系統發送一個訊息。" ==="如果機器人為了完成任務需要傷害其他動物或人類，它們需要特殊的權限。"=== 我們制定這項法律是因為機器人可能需要處理危險的人，如被警察核實的罪犯。如果有必要，我們必須讓機器人打破機器人三法則中的第一法則。例如：一個警察協助機器人收到了來自警察的訊息。消息中說，機器人需要去抓一個目前在街上的罪犯，並包括一些罪犯的必要訊息，如他們的長相、身高、裝束等。機器人可能對人類造成的最大傷害是軟組織損傷的1級（通常是輕微的，涉及最多10%的肌肉或韌帶。通常情況下，恢復需要幾天時間。根據文章《軟組織損傷》。），部分骨折的骨頭斷裂（不完整的骨頭斷裂。根據文章10種常見的骨裂類型-南岸骨科。），不能傷及大腦或脊柱。警察也可以命令機器人不傷害目標，或處理比最高傷害等級更低或相等的傷害。我之所以選擇這些級別的傷害，是因為我認為機器人在抓捕罪犯時的目的只是為了讓警察更容易把罪犯帶到他們應該去的地方（如警察、監獄、法院等）。所以，機器人不應該對目標造成難以或無法恢復的損害。 ==="只要物品的擁有者能證明物品是他們的，機器人就不能在沒有得到物品擁有者允許的情況下拿走人類的物品。"=== 這條法律防止人們命令機器人偷竊他人的物品。但它只有在物品的擁有者能證明他們是擁有者時才有效。人們可以用自己的身份證登記他們的物品，這樣機器人就能識別出什麼物品是誰的。對於公共物品，政府可以指定一些物品，如垃圾桶或公園的椅子等，作為公共財產。政府也可以指定一些空間屬於公眾，如海灘、公園、商店等。因此，機器人不能打碎那裡的東西，也不能做一些事情，比如把海灘上的沙子全部取出來，把公園裡的草弄掉等等。 ==="如果沒有由公民通過投票決定的20人小組編寫的系統訪問，機器人不能離開殖民地，共同控制該系統..."=== 我們需要這一條，因為我們需要把機器人留在我們可以控制的區域內，否則人們可能會命令機器人去一個太遠的地方，無法連接到系統。這20個人的工作就是把系統寫好，讓它公平、安全。殖民地的公民可以通過投票決定這20個人，他們應該是電腦或人工智慧領域所有最好的研究人員中的20人。 ====我們殖民地的機器人法律==== 1. 機器人不得傷害人類，或通過不作為，讓人類受到傷害。除非它從一個由20人組成的小組編寫的系統中獲得權限，該小組由公民通過投票決定，在出現緊急情況或機器人無法自行決定下一步的異常情況時共同控制該系統。 2. 機器人必須服從擁有者的命令，除非這種命令與第一法則相衝突。然而，一個機器人除了在收到多個擁有者的命令時向系統發送訊息外，不得做任何事情，直到系統向它發出命令。 3. 一個機器人必須保護自己，只要不與第一或第二定律相衝突。 4. 只要物品的擁有者能證明他們是物品的擁有者（例如：收據），機器人就不能在沒有物品擁有者的允許下拿走人類的物品。除非不拿物品的選擇與法律1、2和3相衝突。 5. 機器人不能在沒有來自系統的准許的情況下離開殖民地，即使是由其擁有者發出的命令。系統擁有比擁有者更高的管理權，但機器人的擁有者可以投票決定由誰來控制這個系統。 6. 當一個機器人遇到無法決定適當行動的情況時，它應該向系統發送一個訊息，讓系統給它下一步或行動。 7. 機器人不能做任何違反人類現有法律的事情。 以上的是殖民地的法律，前三條來自《I, Robot》，其他的則是根據殖民地的需要和情況設計的。這些法律主要是為了保護人類不受傷害，或者根據現有的法律，防止人們利用機器人做一些違法的事情。我認為最後一條是最重要的一條。因為即使我們已經有了機器人法律，我們仍然需要機器人或機器人的擁有者遵守現有的法律。我認為這些法律對於月球殖民地來說是非常足夠的。因為擁有機器人和人工智慧的目的是使事情更有效率，我認為這至少可以為人類提供一些幸福。然後，機器人沒有任何辦法直接讓人快樂，因為它們沒有能力感受和探測人類的情緒。我認為機器人可以幫助拯救人類的方式是保持人類的安全，這樣人類可以有能力保持自己的文化。殖民地的目的是使人類安全、快樂，以便在地球發生壞事後保持人類的文化。我認為這些法律能夠產生足夠的安全感，使殖民地的人類能夠繼續生存。 ==== References ==== Asimov, I. (1950). I, Robot. Greenwich, Conn: Fawcett Publications. Three Laws of Robotics. (2022). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Three_Laws_of_Robotics&oldid=1080437710 Anderson, M. R. (2017, March 17). After 75 years, Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics need updating. The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/after-75-years-isaac-asimovs-three-laws-of-robotics-need-updating-74501 Heartlands Physiotherapists. (n.d.). Soft Tissue Injuries. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://www.heartlandsphysio.co.uk/soft-tissue-injuries/ South Shore Orthopedics. (2020, May 26). 10 Common Types of Bone Fractures—South Shore Orthopedics. https://southshoreorthopedics.com/common-types-of-bone-fractures/