Do Robot Actors Have Rights? Addressing the Rise in Performance Robotics

Performance robotics has been in the news recently as a robot featured on America’s Got Talent filed for membership of the Screen Actors Guild. Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? At first glance the story seems like a joke, until you consider the key questions it raises about the use of robots in entertainment: At what point does a robot on stage stop being a mere puppet and start being an actor? Who is responsible for the actions of a robotic actor if no puppeteer is present? What implications does this debate raise about hiring collaborative robots in industry? In this post, we examine how the rise in performance robotics could mark a change in how we contract and ensure the safety of robots for hire.

By Alex Owen-Hill on Sep 28, 2015 6:00 AM. 6 min read time