We live in an era of technological revolution. Old cartoons most likely depicted the year 2026 as a futuristic world, with flying cars, virtual reality, and robots doing household chores. Well, many old cartoons and movies ended up getting their predictions wrong, but was it a big difference? Even though the advancement hasn't been as surreal as the entertainment industry portrayed in the past, we are experiencing great technological advancements that are just around the corner.
But what if these innovations are used for evil? Will the creator be held responsible for the problems they cause? The answer depends on the intention and the care taken in their creation. Come and discover more about the subject!
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Creator and Creature
It's interesting to think about this theme of inventions, remembering the phrase "creator and creature." The creature or invention is created by a creator; if this creation becomes a monster, it may indeed have a bit of its creator in it. Let's take the example of artificial intelligence and robots. One of the great names in robotics is Isaac Asimov, who was responsible for creating the Three Laws of Robotics, fixed rules that various robots should implement, without the possibility of alteration, to ensure that they do not end up being used for evil.
The 1st Law states that "a robot may not injure a human being," or allow a human being to come to harm; that is, this rule already prevents robots from being used to harm humans. Without it, the creation could be used for evil. The Second Law states that "a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings," but once again it is reinforced that it cannot contradict the First Law, and in this case it is interesting that it prevents it from taking its own action or being commanded by an AI, for example. Finally, the 3rd Law is that "a robot must protect its own existence, but it cannot go against rules 1 and 2." Furthermore, there's a ZEROTHMATIC LAW added later stating that "the robot cannot harm humanity," preventing cases where it might reach the insane conclusion of Skynet.
This case of Asimov shows how creators should consider the possible uses of their creation and, if possible, avoid its misuse. However, this isn't always possible and is beyond the creator's control; for example, kitchen knives. The name itself indicates that they are meant for cooking and cutting food, but there are numerous cases where people have ended up using them as weapons to injure others. Unlike a robot or AI, where you can implement a fixed code, reinforced multiple times as in the Laws of Robotics, a knife doesn't have the possibility of setting a rule to prevent it from harming another human; in other words, in this case, the creator is not at fault.
Who is to blame?
But then who is to blame after all? Simply put, if the creator had the possibility to prevent the misuse, but did not do so for whatever reason, he ends up having a share of the blame. However, in cases where the inventor has no control and their creation was intended to perform a useful function, helping to solve a problem, but ended up being used incorrectly, the error lies with the user who misused it; neither the inventor nor the invention is at fault in this case, since their objectives were to help.
