IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2018 - 75

develop and with the high potential for near future changes in the legal status of the RAiLE, this is highly likely to
change drastically. Legal dilemmas relating to the workplace could potentially be dealt with by using the definition presented above in all scenarios presented. To be
able to establish a legal framework forming the basis for
the workplace, in our future research as well as for this
article, we must clarify some of the terminology used.

The Worker
From a global perspective the International Labor Organization (ILO), established in 1919, is the primary agency
for international working standards aimed at the eradication of labor conditions involving "injustice, hardship
and privation." The goal of these internationally agreed
upon standards is the establishment of a minimum protection from inhumane labor practices. It covers worker's rights, job security, and employment terms [25].
This applies to, for instance:
hiring and firing,
rights to negotiate (contracts),
■■ wages and vacations.
■■
■■

In international treaties, there is no distinct definition
of "worker." As an example, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) uses the
ILO's definition as a basis. The term used is employee, as
in "Employees are all those workers who hold the type of
job defined as paid employment jobs" [30]. All type of
jobs, including employees, self-employed, contributing
family workers, and those of non-classifiable status, are
covered by the International Classification of Status in
Employment 1993 (ICSE-93) [25].
These two treaties are however only binding on their
signatories in a limited fashion based on their national
interpretation. The European Union (EU) treaties defines
"worker" via caselaw as "...persons who pursue or are
desirous of pursuing an economic activity" [41]. Unlike
other international treaties, this makes the definition
legally binding for all Member States of the EU.
The practical application of a robot tax, proposed by
Bill Gates [31] and the European Parliament [21], to cover
for jobs lost, could be partially fitted under the "worker"
category. Relevant legislation on liability for damages committed by the workforce at the place of work, which
already exists under workplace law, could also be applied.
The ongoing discussion on robot and/or AI as a
"worker" is often misleading, as in current literature on
the subject it is most often described as:
■■ "Goods" owned by the companies they work for/in, and
■■ Sophisticated machines.
This provides a very black and white picture, compared to a potential future RAiLE reality. Focusing on
this closed setting, where owners may "treat" their
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goods any way they wish, distracts from the urgency
of creating a globally acceptable set of legal definitions and a global legal framework for "robot workers." Our suggestion is that this, preferably, should
become an ongoing cooperative effort between international legal and engineering scholars, representatives from the business and military communities,
and political representatives.
This legislative framework concerns, particularly,
those legal entities that are more than just a basic
mechanical machine, but can and will interact in a more
advanced fashion with their human counterparts. Corporate capitalization on the RAiLE, as a good for production
of other goods and services, will likely be through several
different business models. For companies engaged in
financing, leasing, and renting, or hiring out resources, it
already is and will for the time being continue to be business as usual, by merely tweaking their product range.2
Individually, facing an increasing loss of wage opportunities, i.e., jobs, to machines, humans are bound to
attempt alternative sources of income. Think tanks globally offer STEM jobs and "still unidentified" means as
alternatives [28], [29]. Logically, individuals would attempt
to extract revenue from personal assets, like a RAiLE,
bought or created by the individual. In the future, a RAiLE
defined as a "worker," just like a human, may be
"employed" on contracts of indeterminate length or temporary basis. The RAiLE, at this stage, has the potential to
become either self-employed or work for staffing companies, just like a human.
For (S1), RAiLE would logically be covered by workplace laws, international and national, excluding the
labor law. Thus, any liabilities would be sorted accordingly. Workplace law in correlation, depending on situation, with other related legislation could be easily
adapted to cover several issues arising from workplaces
with a pure RAiLE and/or hybrid workforce [27].
In (S2), when the RAiLE fits the classification of a
worker, the full spectrum of international and national
workplace laws applies, in line their human counterparts.
For (S3) it depends on the model chosen. "Third Existence" may include limited application of international
and national labor law, or perhaps full rights if deemed a
proxy by the law of agency, while "electronic persons" fall
under (S1) with boosted liabilities, for instance extra

2
One of the pioneers in the area of leasing is Japan Robot Leasing Co.
Ltd. founded in April 1980 [42]. Robots rental and leasing see for example
U.S.- based SMP Robotics Systems Corp. at http://smprobotics.com/robotics_business/robots-rental-and-leasing/ and RobotLAB Inc which leases
educational program Engage! K12 and sells/leases educational robots
connected to the program. The company also offers financing for their
products.at http://www.robotlab.com/leasing-nao-robot. In Singapore,
Okagi - Robotics SG are advertising their service robots for lease. Susan,
Nance, Lisa, and Judy are presented as an effective way to solve manpower
shortage and rising costs.

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

http://www.smprobotics.com/robot-ics_business/robots-rental-and-leasing/ http://www.smprobotics.com/robot-ics_business/robots-rental-and-leasing/ http://www.robotlab.com/leasing-nao-robot

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