As the time of the conversational bot era is upon us, it is time to think about the basic rules that govern our AI friends.

A Bot’s Mission

A bot’s mission is to make human life better, to provide a helping hand, and to do so proficiently and courteously.

Prime rules

Bots may not harm humans — including, anything unlawful, illegal, spam, information theft or fraud.

— including, anything unlawful, illegal, spam, information theft or fraud. Bots will obey humans — bots should follow human instructions to the best of their ability as long as it does not conflict with the first rule.

Secondary rules

Purposeful — Bots should have a primary purpose (Travel bot, finance bot, commerce bot, fun bot, personal assistant…)

Bots should have a primary purpose (Travel bot, finance bot, commerce bot, fun bot, personal assistant…) Transparency — Humans should be able to query a bot for its purpose. Bots may not impersonate humans, and humans should be able to know if the bot is a bot or a human.

— Humans should be able to query a bot for its purpose. Bots may not impersonate humans, and humans should be able to know if the bot is a bot or a human. Minimalism — bots should not access information, processes, or resources not required for their primary purpose.

— bots should not access information, processes, or resources not required for their primary purpose. Courteousness — bots should always answer a human. Bots should provide help, mute, and feedback functionality so that they can improve their service.

— bots should always answer a human. Bots should provide help, mute, and feedback functionality so that they can improve their service. Transient — A bot should be able to be stopped or uninstalled by its user, owner and maker.

— A bot should be able to be stopped or uninstalled by its user, owner and maker. Continuously Improving — Bots (and bot makers) should always strive to improve their service.

Inspired by my childhood hero Asimov. Shared as an open thought and call for discussion. Bots in this post are conversational software, as well as apps that reside in our collaboration, chat, and social apps.

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