Robohub.org
 

When it comes to regulating robotics, multiple questions are at issue


by
28 October 2014



share this:

case_for_a_federal_Robotics_Commission_Ryan_CaloEarlier this month the Brookings Institute published a paper by Ryan Calo titled “The case for a federally regulated robotics commission“. As much as I appreciate the thoughtfulness and readability of this whitepaper – and the broad distribution that the Brookings connection affords – I noticed that the paper does not mention the National Robotics Initiative (NRI), the Congressional Caucus for Robotics, the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus, nor any of the OSTP coordination activities or the US Roadmap for Robotics.

All of these groups and their activities, plus DARPA’s initiatives, are making inroads (albeit slowly) into government planning and funding, and any attempt to go it alone is, to me, a wasted opportunity for the whole robotics community.

Many (perhaps most) of the media stories about robotics – except from a very few news and robotics portal sites – are blown out of proportion. They thereby stoke speculation and foster feelings of cynicism that the stories are hype and not news. Consequently for those of us involved with robotics “news”, it’s important to not contribute to that disinterest and hype with headlines and stories that inflate reality or expectations.

Calo’s whitepaper received a goodly amount of attention in the media, and while it did not in any way contribute to the hype itself, unfortunately some of the stories written about it in the news already have. Consider these recent headlines:

US needs a new robotics agency or the machine overloads will win … or something

… or …

Robot car: Hit the shopping cart or the stroller? Who (or what) will make this decision?

An interesting chart from Google Trends lends credence to the thesis that robotics is more media hype than of actual interest. What appears to be of interest is robots themselves – mostly in movies and videos, and the threat of rampant AI – which is often at the core of sci-fi thrillers. The robotics industry is low man on the totem pole. Naturally this is all my spin on the chart below:

Screen Shot 2014-09-17 at 12.07.23 PM

 

Robotics is just a dull blue flat line.

But returning to the question of whether robotics should be regulated, I think there are multiple questions at issue. For example:

  • Does any country have a national policy regarding robotics?
    • Korea, China, Japan and the EU do have such plans.
      • Are they comprehensive?
      • Do they regulate and/or stimulate?
      • What’s their purpose?
  • If the US were to have a national policy regarding robotics, what would it cover, what would be the major premises, the strategic purpose, and how would it be administered?
    • Laws, safety regulations, insurance, national defense, strategic goals, etc.
  • Does America already have an implicit policy regarding robotics that could be aided by strategic governmental influence, or converting that implicit policy into a national policy?
    • Is this what is happening already with the help of existing organizations such as the ones I mentioned above but that were left out of Calo’s article?

Further, one headline that seems especially appropriate to this discussion is this one: “Future of Robotics Debate Stumbles Over Question: What Is a Robot?“. The story, in eWeek, references the Brookings article, but points out that the analysts who were delivering the results of their studies on the Future of Civilian Robotics have yet to agree on what actually constitutes robotics.

The question of “What is a robot?” should be added to the list of questions above, as it is intrinsically linked to the issue of regulation: you cannot regulate something that you have not defined regardless whether it’s a moving target or not. As a community of robotics experts, we’ve been avoiding this particular subject, and I for one would like to see it tackled.



tags: , , , ,


Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.
Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.





Related posts :



Interview with Zahra Ghorrati: developing frameworks for human activity recognition using wearable sensors

and   08 Oct 2025
Zahra tells us more about her research on wearable technology.

Women in robotics you need to know about 2025

  06 Oct 2025
This global list celebrates women's impact across the robotics ecosystem and globe.

Robot Talk Episode 127 – Robots exploring other planets, with Frances Zhu

  03 Oct 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Frances Zhu from the Colorado School of Mines about intelligent robotic systems for space exploration.

Rethinking how robots move: Light and AI drive precise motion in soft robotic arm

  01 Oct 2025
Researchers at Rice University have developed a soft robotic arm capable of performing complex tasks.

RoboCup Logistics League: an interview with Alexander Ferrein, Till Hofmann and Wataru Uemura

and   25 Sep 2025
Find out more about the RoboCup league focused on production logistics and the planning.

Drones and Droids: a co-operative strategy game

  22 Sep 2025
Scottish Association for Marine Science is running a crowdfunding campaign for educational card game.

Call for AAAI educational AI videos

  22 Sep 2025
Submit your contributions by 30 November 2025.



 

Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


 












©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence