Autonomous and Intelligent Robots: Social, Legal and Ethical Issues

The word “robot” was used for the first time in 1921 by the Czech writer Karel Čapek, who wrote a play called R.U.R. (“Rosumovi Univerzální Roboti”), featuring a scientist who develops a synthetic organic matter to make “humanoid autonomous machines”, called “robots”. These so called “robots” were supposed to act as slaves and obediently work for humans. Over the years, as real “robots” actually began to be built, their impact on our lives, our work and our society, has brought many benefits, but also raised some concerns. This paper discusses some of the areas of robotics, its advances, challenges and current limitations. We then discuss not only how robots and automation can contribute to our society, but also raise some of the social, legal and ethical concerns that robotics and automation can bring.