Do We Really Need a Federal Robotics Commission?

University of Washington law professor Ryan
Calo offers over at the Brookings Institution the modest proposal
that the Feds
create a Robotics Commission to oversee developments in that
field.

Calo cites current confusion among various agencies about how to
respond to the development of drones, driverless cars, and
algorithmic stock trading as evidence that the government needs a
robotics commission to serve as a central repository for expertise
on robotics. Calo rejects the notion that the new commision should
be some kind of enforcement agency like the Federal Trade
Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the Food and
Drug Administration. However, bureaucratic precedents suggest that
Calo’s good intentions regarding such advisory agencies are likely
to be subverted as the commissioners over time seek to expand their
budgets and power.

Ultimately, I fear that a Federal Robotics Commission would do
for robots and artificial intelligence what the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission has done for nuclear power.

See also, my article, “Will
Superintelligent Machines Destroy Humanity?“