A new proposal from the European Parliament calls for working robots to be classified as "electronic persons," and for their owners to pay social security on their behalf. The draft motion, published online this month, aims to address the new challenges that Europe's robotic workforce will present as robot technology becomes more pervasive and intelligent. The proposal says growing automation will require new frameworks for taxation and legal liability, but it faces opposition from some robotics companies. The proposal aims to address those concerns with a legal framework that would consider "that at least the most sophisticated autonomous robots could be established as having the status of electronic persons with specific rights and obligations." It also calls for companies to declare the money they saved in social security by replacing human workers with robots, and for the creation of a European robotics agency to provide "technical, ethical and regulatory expertise." All smart autonomous robots would be classified under a central registry, with funds to cover their liability, and robot owners and manufacturers would be required to buy insurance. http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/22/11999458/eu-proposal-robots-electronic-persons-liability
