If I build a robot and give it free will, and it kills a thousand people, who is to blame - me or the robot?

Answer 1

I think I see an association with God and how he supposedly gave humans free will and so many people are killed.

Hmm, that's difficult but I would say the robot because it would need to learn the difference of right and wrong. Well, then it could be you because you would have to teach it. It's just like having parents who didn't teach you right from wrong, you'd have to blame the parents. Although later, you'd learn from society. So, the robot. That took me awhile to figure out. lol.

Answer 2

If the robot truly has free will and choses to kill a thousand people than essentially the robot is to blame. The question is very similiar to if God made a man and gave this man free will, and the man kills a thousand men, who should we blame either God or the man? Still, the man is to blame because he exercised free will and God did not intervene like you did not intervene with the robot when it exercised its free will.

Answer 3

Free will to do what?

This is part of the problem, people don't understand that free will means free in all aspects. If I give the robot the ability to decipher right from wrong, but do not give him "free will" to choose whether to do that right or wrong, then I am responsible.

Likewise, if I give the robot the "free will" but fail to provide him with the necessary clues to what is right and what is wrong, I am also responsible for what he does.

However, if he has both of the above, I am also responsible. How is that possible? Because none of that, the "free will" or the knowledge of good and evil, amounts to a hill of beans ... it is the capacity to love another that matters. If I fail to give him a loving heart, fail to provide him with compassion, then he will kill. Repeatedly.

Answer 4

There's no such thing as free will: either in robots or humans. Otherwise, this is a good question.

I would say it would depend on the complexity of the robot. If it could pass the turing test and was on the decision making and learning level of an adult human, I would then say it's the robots fault. Otherwise yours.

Answer 5

Well my anwser is the robot, but that would be in a world that actually made sense.

Although to all of those who said "you" they also anwsered one of the other great questions in life. God created us and gave US freewill, therefore by your own admission you're pretty much saying God is to blame for all our problems and the problems of the world! God created humans, God gave humans free will so GOD is reponsible for our grave sins, killing etc and is to blame for creating this whole mess.

On a final note, if anyone out there builds a robot and it kills thousands of people, you had better be "a God" otherwise SURVEY SAAAYS... "You're to blame!"

Answer 6

I'd say the robot. After all, it has free will yes? In other words, IT chose to do what it did, not you. You just gave it the capacity to do good or evil. By that note any parent would be liable for the choices of the child, since technically the parent gave the child free will.

Answer 7

This really is a pretty interesting question.

Since you could have prevented the deaths, I think you are. Just like parents are often held accountable for what their kids do. But I think the robot is also just as responsible.

It's a noble idea to set something free to make it's own decisions, but you have to make sure it is capable of making intelligent, informed decisions and has the resources to do the right thing.

Answer 8

Well.. how far are the parents responsible if it was their kid?
Freedom and free will with a robot, AI?
The question that comes in my mind; what exactly is free will?
many soldiers are killing thousands of people because they obey orders.

Answer 9

The robot.

Answer 10

The robot.