Via Middle East Times -
SEOUL -- South Korea, at the forefront of the drive to develop robots that can do anything from guarding the border to caring for the elderly, is now drawing up a code of ethics for them.
The nation, which has set an ambitious goal of a robot in every home by 2013, has launched a project to write what it believes will be the world's first Robot Ethics Charter. It will be released by year's end.
"We are setting rules on how far robotic technology can go and how humans live together with robots," said Kim Dae-Won, a professor at Myongji University who heads a team of 12 scientists, doctors, psychologists, and robot developers. "A society in which robots and humans live together may come faster than we think, probably within 10 years."
US software mogul Bill Gates has said that the robotics industry is on a threshold similar to the one seen in the world of computers 30 years ago. Many scientists expect the use of dishwashing or babysitting robots by 2050.
The Korean charter will set broad guidelines to curb the use of robots for undesirable or dangerous purposes.
"Robot ethics are part of human ethics. The purpose of this charter is to find ways of coexistence between humans and robots, not to restrict the development of robotics," Kim said.
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