It may sound like science fiction, but soon we are all going to have to follow the European Parliament’s lead in thinking about how our society, our law and our insurance industry must adapt to the rise in Artificial Intelligence.

How long will it be before we recognise legal rights and duties for “electronic persons”?

“Robot rights: at what point should an intelligent machine be considered a ‘person’?” by Kyle Bowyer on The Conversation is an interesting look at how, with artificial intelligence meshing ever more pervasively into our daily lives, we will soon have to contend with some very strange new concepts.

Our law already recognises “natural persons” (you and I) and “juristic persons” (companies, close corporations, bodies corporate, trusts etc).  “Electronic persons” could be just around the corner.

Time to prepare for the future!