Abstract
In neuroscience and law the traditional free will approach is not able to face the reality of interaction with artificial intelligence and robotics. The author maintains we should rather look at neuroscience and neurotechniques within the continuum of intelligent automation, which includes artificial intelligence and other Semi-cognitive systems of intelligence. Once assumed such perspective, the issue immediately takes a shape, which is factually and conceptually wider and encompass more practical applications.
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Notes
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- 2.
Turing (1950). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy outlines Alan Turing’s very controversial biography and his contribution to contemporary philosophy as follows: “Alan Turing (1912-1954) never described himself as a philosopher, but his 1950 paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” is one of the most frequently cited in modern philosophical literature. It gave a fresh approach to the traditional mind-body problem, by relating it to the mathematical concept of computability he himself had introduced in his 1936-7 paper “On computable numbers, with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem.” His work can be regarded as the foundation of computer science and of the artificial intelligence program.. […]Alan Turing’s arrest in February 1952 for his sexual affair with a young Manchester man, and he was obliged, to escape imprisonment, to undergo the injection of oestrogen intended to negate his sexual drive. He was disqualified from continuing secret cryptological work. His general libertarian attitude was enhanced rather than suppressed by the criminal trial, and his intellectual individuality also remained as lively as ever.” (Available via: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/turing/ last accessed 7 January, 2011).
- 3.
Turing (1950).
- 4.
Floridi (1999), pp. 132–216.
- 5.
Thomas Hobbes deals with automata in the first lines to the Introduction of his book Leviathan: Hobbes T., Leviathan, 1651.
- 6.
In this paragraph I take advantage from a research in progress at the European Centre for Law, Science and New Technologies, University of Pavia (I). I am deeply in debt with Chiara Boscarato (Scholarship Fellow at the Centre) and thank her for giving me the opportunity to see and use her paper (draft) C. Boscarato, Who Is Responsible For Robot’s Actions? An initial examination of Italian law within a European perspective, paper submitted to “TILTing Perspectives 2011 – Technologies on the stand: Legal and ethical questions in neuroscience and robotics” Tilburg University (The Netherlands), April 2011.
- 7.
The word “robot” was used for the first time by Karel Čapek, a Czech writer, in his play Rossum’s Universal Robots, published in 1920, on the advice of his brother Josef who had previously used the word “automa” in his short story “Opilec” published in 1917 (Available via http://capek.misto.cz/english/robot.html).
- 8.
Consumer protection is regulated by EC Directive 1985/374, as amended by EC Directive 1999/34.
- 9.
- 10.
According to Italian legislation Art. 2052 of the Civil Code should be applied: “The owner of an animal or anyone using it for a certain period is liable for damage caused by the animal, whether the animal was in his custody, had disappeared or had fled, unless he can prove that a fortuitous event occurred”.
- 11.
See the link http://www.aibosite.com/sp/gen/home.html.
- 12.
Production was discontinued on 2006 because of insufficient sales and high production costs (around 2.500 dollars).
- 13.
http://www.robotcub.org/. This is an open source project funded by the European Commission and used by more than 20 laboratories worldwide.
- 14.
Article 2048 Italian Civil Code: “Il padre e la madre, o il tutore, sono responsabili del danno cagionato dal fatto illecito dei figli minori non emancipati o delle persone soggette alla tutela, che abitano con essi. La stessa disposizione si applica all’affiliante. I precettori e coloro che insegnano un mestiere o un’arte sono responsabili del danno cagionato dal fatto illecito dei loro allievi e apprendisti nel tempo in cui sono sotto la loro vigilanza. Le persone indicate dai commi precedenti sono liberate dalla responsabilità soltanto se provano di non avere potuto impedire il fatto”.
- 15.
This was developed by the French company Aldebaran Robotics, cf. http://www.aldebaran-robotics.com/eng/Nao.php.
- 16.
Robocup is an international robotics competition founded in 1997. The aim is to develop autonomous soccer robots with the intention of promoting research and education in the field of artificial intelligence. The name RoboCup is a contraction of the competition’s full name, “Robot Soccer World Cup”, but there are many other stages of the competition such as “Search and Rescue” and “Robot Dancing””. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RoboCup.
- 17.
Anderson and Anderson (2010).
- 18.
Floridi (2008).
- 19.
Parfit (1984).
- 20.
This is the conclusion we reached in Santosuosso and Bottalico (2009).
References
Anderson M, Anderson SL (2010) Robot be good: a call for ethical autonomous machines. Sci Am 303:72–77
Boscarato C (2011) Who is responsible for Robot’s actions? An initial examination of Italian law within a European perspective. In: TILTing Perspectives 2011 – Technologies on the stand: legal and ethical questions in neuroscience and robotics. Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Floridi L (1999) Philosophy and computing. An introduction. Routledge, London
Floridi L (ed) (2008) Philosophy of computing and information. 5 Questions. Automatic Press/VIP
Hobbes T (1651) Leviathan, London. http://files.libertyfund.org/files/869/0161_Bk.pdf. Accessed 18 Apr 2020
Parfit D (1984) Reasons and persons. Oxford University Press/Clarendon, Oxford/New York
Santosuosso A (2012) Neuroscience and converging technologies in Italy: from free will approach to humans as not disconnected entities. In: Spranger T (ed) International neurolaw. Springer, Berlin
Santosuosso A, Bottalico B (2009) Neuroscience, accountability and individual boundaries. Front Hum Neurosci 3:45. https://doi.org/10.3389/neuro.09.045.2009
Turing AM (1950) Computing machinery and intelligence. Mind New Series 59(236):433–460
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Santosuosso, A. (2020). A Wider Scope for Neuroscience and Law. In: D’Aloia, A., Errigo, M.C. (eds) Neuroscience and Law. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38840-9_2
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