From Bot to Robot: How Abilities and Law

Change with PhysicalityBrittany Postnikoff (@straithe) Sara-Jayne Terp (@bodaceacat)

Wendy Knox Everette (@wendyck)#fromBotToRobot

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Brittany Postnikoff(@straithe)

Wendy Knox

Everette(@wendyck)

Sara-JayneTerp

(@bodaceacat)

robot law bot

introduction3

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SOCIAL BOTS

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SOCIAL BOTNETS

"A physically embodied, autonomous agent, that

communicates and interacts with humans on a social level."

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SOCIAL ROBOTS

Extending Legal Protection to Social Robots: The Effects of Anthropomorphism, Empathy, and Violent Behavior Towards Robotic Objects Kate Darling. 2016. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2044797

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ROBOTS

intent & agency

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LEGAL FRAMEWORKS

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TORTS, CONTRACTS, & CRIMINALS

can bots or robots commit crimes?

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TORTS, CONTRACTS, & CRIMINALS

can bots or robots form a contract?

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TORTS, CONTRACTS, & CRIMINALS

what if a robot injures a person?

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PRODUCT LIABILITY AND NEGLIGENCE

free speech protections

creating / acquisition

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BUYING A BOTNET

$100 buys you a lot of

reach

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SETTING UP BOTNETS

don’t get caught

ACQUIRING (SOCIAL) ROBOTS

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BOTS FOR SALE: THE LAW

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act(18 USC §1030)

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ROBOT VS BOT AND THE LAW

is a robot a product?

interaction19

BOTNETS AS AMPLIFIERS

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current game: human attention

and beliefs

BOTNET CONTROL OF HUMANS

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current game: creating

real-world human actions

INDEPENDENT BOTS

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WORKPLACE (SOCIAL) ROBOTS

23Min Kyung Lee, Sara Kiesler, Jodi Forlizzi, Paul Rybski. 2012.

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/Web/People/kiesler/publications/2012/2012_Ripple-Effects.pdfImage: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jiuguangw/6265557906

Ripple Effects of an Embedded Social

Agent: A Field Study of a Social Robot in

the Workplace

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(SOCIAL) ROBOTS IN PUBLIC

(https://qz.com/1154649/a-knightscope-security-robot-is-being-used-to-shoo-away-homeless-peop

le-in-san-francisco/)

Knight Robot as Security

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ROBOT SOCIAL ENGINEERING

Brittany Postnikoff, Ian Goldberg. 2018. https://straithe.com/resources/RobotSocialEngineering.pdf

Robot Social Engineering:

Attacking Human Factors with

Non-Human Actors

who is speaking, the bot or the creator?

THE FIRST AMENDMENT

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political speech and the First Amendment

MISINFORMATION

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place and manner restrictions

MAKING IT PHYSICAL

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embodiment: state of the art & product liability

UPDATING BOTS AND ROBOTS

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destruction / removal

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BOT REMOVAL BY HOSThosts have a lot of power

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BOT REMOVAL BY OPERATOR

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GETTING A BOT REMOVED

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FIRING A (SOCIAL) ROBOT

Image: https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/pepper-robot-grocery-

store/

Pepper as a grocery

store clerk

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REMOVING A (SOCIAL) ROBOT

Bots on the

Ground

Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/05/AR2007050501009.htmlImage: https://www.designboom.com/technology/irobot-packbot/

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(SOCIAL) ROBOT DEATHSony AIBO

funeralsImage: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/05/01/national/ja

pan-aibo-robots-get-funeral/

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TAKEDOWNS

corporate personhood & the legal status of

bots and robots

conclusion & takeaways

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CONCLUSION

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bots aren’t going away

choose robot embodiment carefully

existing legal frameworks are flexible enough

TAKEAWAYS

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“When we consider how a new technology affects law, our focus should not be on what is essential about the technology

but on what features of social life the technology makes newly salient.”

- Jack M. Balkin

Brittany Postnikoff@straithe

Sara-Jayne Terp@bodaceacat

Wendy Knox Everette@wendyck

bots aren’t going away

choose robot embodiment carefully

existing legal frameworks

are flexible enough

QUESTIONS?

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(#fromBotToRobot)