Our relationship with our machines however beneficial and salubrious is many times an uneasy and often contentious one, especially so since the Industrial Revolution. Railroads are wonderful until a locomotive slips its track. After the wreckage is hauled away, the injured and dead as well, another of humankind’s great inventions takes over: law.
Humankind is now fast about creating what may well be its greatest tool: the robot. And, consequently, about to enter its greatest test between its laws and its machines.
Join us beginning in September for Robots and the Law, a new column that will explore the legal and ethical issues surrounding robotics and how they could impact on your bottom line.
Facilitative changes – these are changes to law that are needed to enable the use of AI. Controlling changes – these are changes to law and new laws that may be needed to manage the introduction and scope of operation of robotics and artificial intelligence.
AI has become an important contributing factor to the transformation of society, and that transformation is happening extremely fast. The AI Revolution is often compared to the Industrial Revolution, but that comparison is partly flawed, because of the speed, scale and pervasiveness of the AI Revolution.
So, yes, there is a need for Robot Law. Separate from the question of whether we need Robot Law, is the question whether we already need legislation now, and/or how much should be regulated at this stage. When trying to answer that question, we are met with almost diametrically opposing views.
Some reports claim that the AI Revolution is happening up to 300 times faster than the Industrial Revolution. This partly has to do with the fact AI is already being used everywhere, and that pervasiveness is only expected to increase rapidly.
The EU is not alone in its desire to regulate AI: similar (though less far reaching) reports were published in Japan and in the UK. These different initiatives are in effect the first attempts at creating Robot Law.
The argument is that AI and Robotics are still in their infancy, and at this stage there is a need first to explore and develop it further. Not only are there still too many unanswered questions, but their view is that regulation at this stage could stifle the progress of AI.
An AI lawyer is a robot that can carry out some lawyer duties. These robot lawyers can perform tasks like conducting research and analyzing legal problems. And they can do all these in less time and with the highest level of accuracy. Many lawyers, are now incorporating AI or artificial intelligence in setting up their law offices and law firms.
Many organizations that use robot lawyers to draft and review contracts are seeing an increase in their output and productivity. In contract analysis, an AI lawyer can easily identify, extract data, and clarify the contents of a contract much easier and faster than human lawyers.
Corporate Lawyers. Most corporate organizations have lawyers whom they retain to keep them informed of their rights and obligations. Corporate lawyers also make sure that their clients or employers comply with corporate regulations and laws.
Lawyers involved in real estate are specialists in laws relating to property transactions and deals. In some jurisdictions, the law requires that the lawyers play a part in the real estate transaction. For example in Nigeria, only a lawyer can prepare a document that transfers an interest in a landed property.
For centuries lawyers have played a central role as protectors of the rule of law and rights of individual members. With the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, many groups have robots that guide them in running their organizations.
The robot legal consultants are now making legal services cost-effective by making it easier for people to access legal advice before meeting the human lawyer. An AI lawyer has advanced computing powers to search a huge amount of data and come up with information in seconds.
Also, some robots perform corporate legal functions like research, issuing legal opinions, and notifying the companies on basic compliance. One of the functions of corporate lawyers is to help their clients safely enter into legally binding contracts.