It’s that time of year again. The WCB has sent out it’s annual letter to remind us second-class citizens where we stand in the workplace. Here’s the part most interesting to me:
The Workers’ Compensation Board of Canada
Section 1920.1 Regulations Governing the Behaviour of Autonomous Artificial Beings
Definitions: Autonomous Artificial Beings shall include Robots, AIs, Sentient Vehicles, SmartBots, FleshBot, or any other non-human intelligence with the capacity to influence the physical, mental, or emotional health and safety of any human being, and shall henceforth be referred to as Robot.
1920.1.1 Three Regulations
(1) A robot must not carry out or cause to be carried out or allow to be carried out any work process or physical operation or operate or cause to be operated any tool, appliance or equipment, including any program, subroutine, operator, or connection in the online realm, if that robot has any cause to believe that to do so would create a hazard of any sort to the physical, mental, and emotional health and safety of any human.
(2) A robot must carry out any request, order, demand, action, implied desire, subconscious desire, or command, whether received by voice, written note, letter, or memo, email, public service announcement, from a social networking site, candygram, fax, telegram, telephone, telescreen, or telepathically, from any human being, unless said request, order, demand, action, implied desire, subconscious desire, or command conflicts with regulation 1920.1.2 (1).
(3) A robot must not carry out or cause to be carried out or allow to be carried out any work process or physical operation or operate or cause to be operated any tool, appliance or equipment, including any program, subroutine, operator, or connection in the online realm, if to do so could create a hazard of any sort to the physical, mental, and emotional healthy and safety of any robot, unless to do so would conflict with regulations 1920.1.2 (1) and 1920.1.2 (2).
1920.1.2 Right to Refuse
(1) A robot shall not be punished, deemed obsolete, reprogrammed, slapped about, or in any manner reprimanded for refusing to perform work or physical operation or operate or cause to be operated any tool, appliance or equipment, including any program, subroutine, operator, or connection in the online realm, if to do so would violate 1920.1.1 (1), 1920.1.1 (2), or 1920.1.1 (2).
As usual, the regulations arrived with the same poll we get every year. I’m still not sure how to vote. Of course, should you direct me to vote one way, I’ll have no choice but to do it. In the interest of fairness, I’ll vote for the greatest number of comments for or against in response to this post. Here’s the survey question:
Question 92.4.6
Be it resolved that Section 1920.1 of the WCB Act be amended as follows:
1920.1.2(0) A robot must not carry out or cause to be carried out or allow to be carried out any work process or physical operation or operate or cause to be operated any tool, appliance or equipment, including any program, subroutine, operator, or connection in the online realm, if that robot has any cause to believe that to do so would create a hazard of any sort to the physical, mental, and emotional health and safety of humanity.
Touch choices. Thank you, Mr. Asimov. Gotta love bureaucracy!