Robots are increasingly becoming "smart", with the help of artificial intelligence. Smart robots may be useful if they take on important tasks, but their development and use also raises legal and technical questions. How can we ensure that smart robots are safe and secure, and that their use respects our privacy? These questions arise especially when robots are deployed in a healthcare context, when they interact with vulnerable people.
The VIROS project investigates the challenges and solutions in regulating robotics and AI technologies - legally and technically. The project’s focus on law, ethics and robotics technology is highly interdisciplinary. The research is undertaken by a team comprising researchers from the Robotics and Intelligent Systems (ROBIN) research group at the Department of Informatics, University of Oslo (UiO), together with researchers at the Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law (NRCCL) and other departments at the Law Faculty, UiO. The project also collaborates with international experts and representatives of the public sector and industry.
While the project is still in its early days, our research has so far uncovered weaknesses in the ability of the EU Medical Device Regulation to protect against particular risks – particularly mental health threats – raised by the use of healthcare robots. Accordingly, we recommend that the Regulation be revised in order to better capture such risks.