Asimov's Three Robotics Laws Need Revising

Science-fiction novels and movies have pictured the future of humankind in a robotized world for a long time, where mechanical entities are self-aware, and perfectly able to fend for themselves, and make decisions. In such a scenario, the Three Laws of Robotics, proposed by SF writer Isaac Asimov in his books, do apply, but they need a thorough reshaping when taking into account today's realities, experts say. Putting too much responsibility on a still insufficiently developed technology could end in disaster. Present-day robots still lack even the most basic abilities to situate themselves within the environment. They still navigate around obstacles because they are instructed not to slam into them, but fail to realize why they are given these commands. They also lack any autonomy in the true sense of the word, and are still heavily reliant on their creators, the humans. Maybe, in a few decades, robots will become able to adapt themselves perfectly when introduced in a new environment, but they cannot do this now. “The fascination with robots has led some people to try retreating from responsibility for difficult decisions, with potentially bad consequences,” Ohio State University systems engineer David Woods explains, quoted by Space. Pushing robots in situations that are well beyond them...