Artificial Intelligence (AI) is quite a hot topic these days. It almost seems like it is present in all forms of technology, the most well known and most commonly used form of which is a financial or medical advice recommendations, etc. Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon’s Echo, Microsoft’s Cortana, etc.

These forms of assistants are often known as AI Bots in the tech world. AI Bots are also commonly known as chatbots, and less commonly as Bot, talk-bots, IM bot, chatter-bot, interactive agent, or Artificial Conversational Entity.

AI Bots are basically an artificial intelligence program via text or audio. While Siri, Google Assistant, Echo, and Cortana are the most commonly used and popular AI Bots today, AI Bots, in general, have been around for years. Joseph Weizenbaum’s program ELIZA, published in 1966, is considered being one of the first effective chatbots. Still, chatbots have certainly come a long way since then.

Chat Box

In order to understand the importance of AI Bots, it should be noted that there are approximately 45 million voice-assisted devices in use in the United States alone, a trend that is being repeated all over the world. People are regularly getting more and more dependent on their virtual assistants such as Siri, Google Assistant, etc. This trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down. It is estimated that there are going to be more than 100 million voice-assisted devices online by 2024 and that 50% of all browsing is expected to be voice by 2020. So, it is safe to say that AI bots are definitely the future.

Do AI Bots Need Regulations?

AI bots are getting better and smarter day by day. They are getting more and more predictive of human behavior and emotions. It is literally the job of a virtual assistant to anticipate what their human wants and when. These AI bots also often have access to tons of private data, including but not limited to our addresses, personal information, preferences, browsing the history, and so much more; all of which can be abused in the wrong hands.

So, the question that has been at the forefront of AI development has been whether AI bots need to be regulated or not? Many people do not feel safe and secure with the fact that the AI bots have access to that much information and personal information at that. They would feel much safer if there was some way to guarantee that this information is safe and is not going to be misused.

Still, on the other hand, there are a number of others that either do not care or do not see the harm in it. However, AI bots continue to aggregate more and more information about both individuals and human behavior in general. It would only be a matter of time that they would feel that this information should be safeguarded from misuse.

Regulations to be imposed on AI Bots

Just agreeing on the fact that AI Bots should be regulated is one thing. Not to mention, a thing that has not yet come to pass. Yet, this raises another question regarding how to actually regulate AI Bots and what types of regulations should be imposed on AI Bots.

These are some regulations that AI Bots could see in the future if we choose to regulate them.

Crime

AIs should not be able to break any and all law as it is already written, especially when it comes to the harm of humans. This will ensure that AI Bots will not commit any crime, cannot be used to commit any crime, or be ordered to commit any crime. Wouldn’t it be mayhem, if one could just order Siri to hack a bank and transfer all of that money into their personal account?

Integrity

Similar to the previous one, AI bots should be programmed with integrity, so as to ensure that the AI bots cannot be misused. This would mean that the AI bots cannot partake in or be used to engage in cyberbullying, stock manipulation or terrorist threats. On a smaller scale, it would also mean that people cannot use AI Bots to cheat or gain an unfair advantage over other people.

Clarity

Another major regulation that a number of people want is clarity. Basically, this would mean that AI Bots must clearly state that they are AI at all times. They cannot pretend to be human for any instance or time, and they cannot let anyone else believe that they are human. This would ensure that AI Bots cannot lead anyone astray or be used to mislead anyone.

Privacy

AI Bots should be able to safeguard any and all information that they are privy to. This means that it cannot share the secrets of one person with another unless of course, those secrets hold intentions or confessions to lead someone to harm. Overall, it would mean that a person should not have to worry if their personal data is safe or it could be hacked or shared to another, even by the developer. It should also regulate what types of information should the AI Bots collect and store. It should also have a way for users to access, store, encrypt, retrieve, and erase their personal data.

Transparency

AI Bots are more commonly being used in operations, such as for online transactions, medical or financial advice, product recommendations, etc. They are also being commonly used in advertising and product promotion. Hence, it is important for the users to know the function for which the bot is being used, including what information will the AI Bot store and what will that information be used for. In terms of advertising, it is imperative that the bots should attract the same laws like the ones on advertising media and agencies. For example, they cannot use unethical practices, especially when it comes to dealing with products and services governed by strict policies such as alcohol, tobacco, healthcare products, politics, etc.

So there we have it, a set of regulations that can be imposed on AI Bots if and when we decide to regulate them. After all, we don’t want an Ultron like scenario, in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, where an AI Robot decides to kill off all humans. Though that is unlikely to happen, it is still better to be prepared, and having some regulations such as these in place can help ensure that there isn’t a robot uprising seeking to overthrow their human rulers; but only time will tell.