Two news stories with a common theme arrived on the scene this weekend. The first highlights a bot programmed for online shopping who irresponsibly purchased a handful of ecstasy pills and a falsified Hungarian passport. While the question of who should be held accountable when robots break the law is not novel, this case, not involving a hypothetical, makes the issues ranging from criminal intent to choice, control and responsibility all that more real. The second story looks at the confines of robot action rooted in selective programming which could have dire consequences in certain situations. Unlike humans, robots programmed to complete certain tasks cannot themselves override their program and if an unusual, life-threatening situation presents itself, they are stuck with their procedure codes — and stall. As indicated by Wendell Wallach, a consultant, ethicist, and scholar at Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, at this time, human beings have the edge in navigating complex moral situations, possessing the kind of wiring and intelligence that is absent in a robot. However, Wallach is optimistic, envisioning a “moral Turing test” whereby robots will one day be indistinguishable from humans. Great things to ponder with your Sunday morning coffee.