All science fiction enthusiasts know the first law of robotics: a robot cannot harm a human being, ever. Said in Asimov's words: “a robot cannot harm a human being nor can it allow a human being to suffer harm due to its failure to intervene."
This in novels. In reality, however, it seems that it was created in California the first robot that can "consciously decide" to harm the man who created it.
The robot in question was created by robotics expert and artist Alexander Reben of Stochastic Labs in Berkeley, after noticing that many people in the world are afraid of robots and artificial intelligence. According to the inventor, this happens because machines can harm us, or even steal our jobs.
A robot that can hurt
“No one has ever built a robot intentionally made to harm someone“, explains Reben. “I wanted to make a robot that could do this really exist. This is important: taking it from the realm of imagined experiments to reality, because once something exists you owe it to yourself compare. It becomes urgent, you can't just pontificate about it."
There are certainly some scary robots out there, like the Boston Dynamics Spot, who has been shown to be able to open doors and escape from his creators. Most robots that could potentially do harm today don't seem that threatening. Many of them are entering our homes as assistants and helpers. So what should we do about the possibility that these “harmless” robots will one day turn against us? As it turns out, scientists have asked themselves the same question and found some possible solutions. For now, though, it looks like we
The robot created is ironically called “FirstLaw” (“First Law”), with a reference to Asimov's aforementioned laws of robotics. The robot can "decide" whether or not to cause a small cut to the person who approaches it. In reality the choice is absolutely random. Provocation, art, useless act? To you the choice.
