engineering

Robot ethics

Robot ethics is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Robot ethics rather than just read about it. In short: Robot ethics, sometimes known as "roboethics", concerns ethical problems that occur with robots, such as whether robots pose a threat to humans in the long or short run, whether some uses of robots are problematic (such as in healthcare or as "killer robots" in war), and how robots should be designed such that they act "ethically" (this last concern is also called machine ethics). Alternatively, roboethics refers sp…

Key takeaways

Robot ethics belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Robot ethics to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Robot ethics from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Robot ethics, sometimes known as "roboethics", concerns ethical problems that occur with robots, such as whether robots pose a threat to humans in the long or short run, whether some uses of robots are problematic (such as in healthcare or as "killer robots" in war), and how robots should be designed such that they act "ethically" (this last concern is also called machine ethics). Alternatively, roboethics refers specifically to the ethics of human behavior towards robots, as robots become increasingly advanced. Robot ethics is a sub-field of the ethics of technology. It is closely related to legal and socio-economic concerns. Serious academic discussions about robot ethics started around 2000, and involve several disciplines, mainly robotics, computer science, artificial intelligence, philosophy, ethics, theology, biology, physiology, cognitive science, neurosciences, law, sociology, psychology, and industrial design.

History and events

One of the first publications directly addressing and setting the foundation for robot ethics was "Runaround", a science fiction short story written by Isaac Asimov in 1942, which featured his well-known Three Laws of Robotics. These three laws were continuously altered by Asimov, and a fourth – or "zeroth" – law was eventually added to precede the first three, in the context of his science fiction works. The short term "roboethics" was most likely coined by Gianmarco Veruggio. Roboethics was also highlighted in 2004 with the First International Symposium on Roboethics. In discussions with students and non-specialists, Gianmarco Veruggio and Fiorella Operto thought that a good debate could push people to take an active part in the education of public opinion, make them comprehend the positive uses of the new technology, and prevent its abuse. Anthropologist Daniela Cerqui identified three main ethical positions emerging from the two days of debate: those who see robotics as purely technical and disclaim ethical responsibility, those interested in short-term ethical questions (such as compliance with existing conventions), and those interested in long-term ethical questions (including the digital divide).

Some other important events include:

2004: the Fukuoka World Robot Declaration. 2017: in the Future Investment Summit in Riyadh, a robot named Sophia (and referred to with female pronouns) is granted Saudi Arabian citizenship, becoming the first robot ever to have a nationality. This attracts controversy due to legal ambiguity, for instance over whether Sophia can vote or marry, or whether a deliberate system shutdown is to be considered murder. Additionally, news outlets contrasted it with the limited rights that Saudi women have. 2017: The European Parliament passed a resolution addressed to the European Commission concerning Civil Law Rules on Robotics. Computer scientist Virginia Dignum noted in a March 2018 issue of Ethics and Information Technology that the general societal attitude toward artificial intelligence (AI) has, in the modern era, shifted away from viewing AI as a tool and toward viewing it as an intelligent "team-mate". In the same article, she assessed that, with respect to AI, ethical thinkers have three goals, each of which she argues can be achieved in the modern era with careful thought and implementation. The three ethical goals are as follows:

Ethics by Design (the technical/algorithmic integration of ethical reasoning capabilities as part of the behavior of artificial autonomous system, see machine ethics); Ethics in Design (the regulatory and engineering methods that support the analysis and evaluation of the ethical implications of AI systems as these integrate or replace traditional social structures); and Ethics for Design (the codes of conduct, standards and certification processes that ensure the integrity of developers and users as they research, design, construct, employ and manage artificial intelligent systems, see § Law below).

In popular culture

Roboethics as a science or philosophical topic has been a common theme in science fiction literature and films. One film that could be argued to be ingrained in pop culture that depicts the dystopian future use of robotic AI is The Matrix, depicting a future where humans and conscious sentient AI struggle for control of planet Earth, resulting in the destruction of most of the human race. An animated film based on The Matrix, the Animatrix, focused heavily on the potential ethical issues and insecurities between humans and robots. The movie is broken into short stories. Animatrix's animated shorts are also named after Isaac Asimov's fictional stories. Another facet of roboethics is specifically concerned with the treatment of robots by humans, and has been explored in numerous films and television shows. One such example is Star Trek: The Next Generation, which has a humanoid android, named Data, as one of its main characters. For the most part, he is trusted with mission-critical work, but his ability to fit in with the other living beings is often in question. More recently, the movie Ex Machina and the TV show Westworld have taken on these ethical questions quite directly by depicting hyper-realistic robots that humans treat as inconsequential commodities. The questions surrounding the treatment of engineered beings has also been key component of Blade Runner for over 50 years. Films like Her have even distilled the human relationship with robots even further by removing the physical aspect and focusing on emotions. Although not a part of roboethics per se, the ethical behavior of robots themselves has also been a joining issue in roboethics in popular culture. The Terminator series focuses on robots run by a conscious AI program with no restraint on the termination of its enemies. This series has the same archetype as The Matrix series, where robots have taken control. Another famous pop culture case of AI with defective morality is HAL 9000 in the Space Odyssey series, where HAL (a computer with advanced AI capabilities who monitors and assists humans on a spacecraft) kills humans on board to ensure the success of the assigned mission after his own life is threatened.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Robot ethics

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Robot ethics claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Robot ethics before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Robot ethics ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Robot ethics

In research: Robot ethics appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Robot ethics in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Robot ethics is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Ethics of artificial intelligence, Regulation of robots, Singularitarianism, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Robot ethics outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Robot ethics in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Robot ethics means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Robot ethics out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Robot ethics in simple terms?

Why does Robot ethics matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Robot ethics?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Robot ethics.