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21 San Diego L. Rev. 1045 (1983-1984)
Laying Down the Law to Robots

handle is hein.journals/sanlr21 and id is 1051 raw text is: Laying Down The Law To Robots MICHAEL GEMIGNANI* This article discusses the nature of law and the challenges to the law posed by the rapidly developing field of computer technol- ogy. If the law is to retain vitality as the framework within which society operates, it must respond to technological forces which threaten the law with obsolescence. The Article focuses on robots as symbols of machines performing functions usually reserved to human beings. Several specific legal areas in which the use of computers raises novel, and as yet unanswered, legal and ethical issues are surveyed, including criminal procedure, copyright of computer-generated works, and liability for computer-produced catastrophes. The Random House Dictionary defines a robot as a machine that resembles a human and does mechanical, routine tasks on com- mand.1 It is questionable how far into the future this definition will be acceptable; moreover, man must consider the legal and ethical implications of the technological developments that will render the definition unacceptable. Robots, like the computers that often serve as their brains, are with us to stay. However, as with computers, the use of robots raises questions that must be addressed in order to retain control over the framework of society. If a robot is a machine that resembles a human, then the closer the resemblance, the more uncomfortable man may feel. Man will begin to question what it means to be a machine or to be human. Moreover, the more closely the robot resembles a human or its ac- tions parallel those of humans, the less likely it is that its actions will be merely mechanical, routine tasks, or that such tasks will be * Dean, College of Sciences and Humanities and Professor of Telecommunications, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana; B.A., 1962, University of Rochester; Ph.D., 1965, University of Notre Dame; J.D., 1980, Indiana University. 1. THE RANDOM HOUSE DICTIONARY 777 (1978). September-October 1984 Vol. 21 No. 5 1045

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