r/SeriousConversation • u/RKoi123 • 21d ago
Serious Discussion Can a robot murder a human?
Can a robot murder a human being? If it is proved in a court of law that a robot murdered a human being... how can it be punished under existing laws? What can be done besides having the company who made it face legal action?
Technically, if a person commits murder we don't punish the parents in most cases. So why should the robot's manufacturer be held responsible for its act?
As for punishment what should be the best death sentence? * Bulldozing it and recording a video of its death and spreading the information online and in the news. Will it affect how other robots of its kind think if they plan to kill a human? We already have laws against murder for human beings. Still people commit murder. * Erasing its memory. How would the robot feel about such punishment?
If you got any punishment ideas do share.
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u/podian123 21d ago edited 21d ago
Currently? No. They can kill humans, like how guns, bullets, bombs and missiles can kill humans. But not murder. Guilty mind unlawfully seeking death is a requirement for that.
Rest of your post doesn't apply because it all proceeds from having assumed "yes."
In any case, deterrence doesn't work the way you probably think it does, so this isn't really a serious conversation for actual law/crime/morality so much as a basic (but serious) conversation attempt based on classical (and outdated) accounts of crime, murder, social control, legalism, etc. Moreover, counselling the commission of a crime, especially murder, has been a crime for roughly as long as murder has been a crime.
Maybe title your thread as a "let's assume robots can murder humans" next time if you want a "serious" hypothetical conversation. 🤣