If an autonomous machine kills someone, who is responsible? 2009
08 26 The Royal Academy of Engineering has published a report
exploring the social, legal and ethical implications of ceding
control to autonomous systems. The supercomputer Hal in Stanley
Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey embodies our worst fears about
autonomous machines. Photograph: RGA Within a decade, we could
be routinely interacting with machines that are truly autonomous
– systems that can adapt, learn from their experience and make
decisions for themselves. Free from fatigue and emotion, they
would perform better than humans in tasks that are dull,
dangerous or stressful. Already, the systems we rely on in our
daily lives are being given the capacity to operate
autonomously. On the London Underground, Victoria line trains
drive themselves between stations, with the human "driver"
responsible only for spotting obstacles and closing the doors.
Trains on the Copenhagen Metro run without any driver at all.
While our cars can't yet drive thems