iRobot Arms Bomb-Inspector 'Bots With Tasers

By Gregory Mone Posted 06.29.2007 at 3:28 pm 5 Comments

One law down, two to go? iRobot, manufacturer of the Roomba vacuum, has teamed up with Taser to arm its Packbot robots with stun guns. But it’s hard to say whether this is actually a violation of the first of science fiction author Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics: “A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.” Clearly, arming a robot with a stun gun is the first step towards breaking that rule. But the Packbots, currently used as bomb inspectors in Iraq, are remote-controlled. If there’s a human operator standing at a distance with his finger on the Taser trigger, is it really the robot that’s doing the harm? Yeah, probably. But please discuss.—Gregory Mone

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5 Comments

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popsci

06/30/07 at 11:13 am

Asimov's laws were for robots that had human level intelligence (or better.) IRobot's creations can be outthought by a cockroach. We should be more concerned about the ethics of the people using the things. Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, Warrantless Wiretapping anyone?

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popsci

07/01/07 at 3:33 pm

The three laws plus one can be compared to tools, as the man himself did. 1 A tool mustn't harm its user, so a knife will have a handle and a cable will have its jacket. 2 A tool must perform its intended use without hurting the user. 3 A tool must be durable enough to be used.
However, a zeroth law was added later on, that states that a robot must act not only in the interest of the individual human, but it in the interest of all of humanity, and may not bring harm to humanity through action or inaction. In the best interest of humanity, that taser robot must act.

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popsci

07/03/07 at 12:03 am

How is this any worse than a Predator armed with a Hellfire missile? Both the iRobot and Predator are robots, both are remotely operated, and the missile is slightly more lethal than a Taser I think. Furthermore, armed Predators have been around for 5 years. Does a Taser-armed iRobot really introduce any new questions?

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wizodd

02/12/08 at 9:37 pm

Stupid article by poor research. Waste of bits.
Note comment on Predators above.

As a writer, you should at LEAST learn the definitions of the words you use....

cmb

Universal Slavery is NOT Equal Rights!

Had we started building Solar Power Satellites in 1977, when we knew it could be done, 120% of America's electrical power would be using NO fuel, producing trivial waste, including greenhouse gases.

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seamountie

05/02/09 at 12:06 pm

I am sorry, to me the machines mentioned in the article are as much a robot as a table saw. The machine is totally and directly controlled by a human, so it is not a robot.

The Roomba, another iRobot product, is, however, a true, albeit stupid, robot. It does its job without intervention by a human (mostly).

Mostly or completely autonomous = robot.
Mostly or completely dependent on human direction = machine

(I realize that by definition a robot is a machine. I just didn't come up with a better word, other than non-robot machine....HEY!...nRmachine...you heard it here first)

Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgement.