As part of his programme Matières à penser, Serge Tisseron received in 2018 Nathalie Nevejans, a lecturer in private law at the University of Artois, a specialist in the law and ethics of artificial intelligence and a member of the CNRS ethics committee (COMETS). Together, they had discussed the theme of the “law” of robots.

What does an industrial robot that makes car parts have in common with the vacuum cleaner you may already have at home, a surgical robot, an autonomous vehicle and a sex robot? Nathalie Nevejans explains it: they all pose problems of rights. These various machines will indeed, each in their own way, force us to rethink the law. How can we guarantee the safety of their users, of course, but also their privacy and even their freedom? Because if robots can be “man’s best friend”, they can also sometimes prove to be the most efficient and discreet bugs we have ever come across.

Nathalie Nevejans’ musical choice is the aria “La donna è mobile” from Verdi’s Rigoletto, performed by Andrea Bocelli.

Translated from Replay : Le “droit” des robots, réalité ou abus de langage ? avec Nathalie Nevejans et Serge Tisseron