No taxation without representation. It's the essence of modern liberty. It's the foundation of America's government. And it's about to be put to the test by the European Union, where a draft proposal would force robots to pay taxes.
Europe's growing army of robot workers could be classed as "electronic persons" and their owners liable to paying social security for them if the European Union adopts a draft plan to address the realities of a new industrial revolution.
Robots are being deployed in ever-greater numbers in factories and also taking on tasks such as personal care or surgery, raising fears over unemployment, wealth inequality and alienation.
Their growing intelligence, pervasiveness and autonomy requires rethinking everything from taxation to legal liability, a draft European Parliament motion, dated May 31, suggests.
The draft motion called on the European Commission to consider "that at least the most sophisticated autonomous robots could be established as having the status of electronic persons with specific rights and obligations".
Isaac Asimov, please call your office.
If robots pay taxes, shouldn't they be allowed to vote? Hold office? Can an "electronic person" own property or exercise civil rights?
These aren't silly questions.
And no, I don't have the answers. I'm pretty sure the Euroweenies don't have the answers either. They're just trolling for revenue to prop up their bloated social welfare state and robots are this week's easy target.
But someone ought to put some thought into this Real Soon Now or the
EU just might find themselves on the receiving end of a robot revolution.
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