Patrick Lin

Robot Ethics As robotics technology advances, ethical concerns become more pressing: makes it all the more urgent to study their ethical, legal, and policy impacts. Military robots had received much attention in the past (and are still controversial today), the concern of a handful of scholars. Experts from different academic disciplines and geographical areas are now playing vital roles in shaping ethical, legal, and policy discussions worldwide. A PROFFESOR OF California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, this book is the urgent call to study the big damage to this planet with careless on biotechnology of modern science business.… (mere)

We've come a long way from the days of Elektro and Robby, ladies and gentlemen. Robots are playing a larger role in the modern world. Robots can, as of March 29, 2012, assassinate foreign enemies, jump over tall buildings, perform surgery, drive cars, and care for the elderly.

Barring some disaster, prohibitive legislation, or mass uprising of Luddites, they're going to keep developing, and change the world. Clearly, it is necessary to learn how to treat them, and what is ethical about their manufacture, use, and treatment. Hence, Roboethics.

This is a compilation of major essays on the issues of robotics in modern life. It starts with an introduction and survey of current trends, then moves to the ethics of design and programming, the role of cognitive sciences of mind in all further discussion, and some possible 'decision trees', or chains of formal logic by which robots could make advanced decisions. Can robots be programmed to follow a utilitarian value ethics, or a more advanced and autonomous ethical system ('right' and 'wrong')? What about the issues of always taking direct commands from humans?

The next section covers the issue of the military. Any reader of the news is aware of the recent drone strikes, and the inherent benefits and risks of military action without personnel. Can robots react in time to sabotage or ambush? Can they commit war crimes or commit murder in cold blood, or what that make as much sense as putting a gun on trial? (The Onion recently did an article on this, putting a trial for a court-martialed drone.) Who has responsibility for drones and other attack robots?

After that comes law (Is a robot a person, robotic surveillance and privacy), and psychology and sex. Don't chuckle. The South Koreans and Japanese already have 'doll sessions', which I will not go into.

There's also the surprising issue of robot care, affection, and their role in future medicine. We may have heard stories of people being overaffectionate with their Roombas, treating them like trusted pets. But the issue could potentially be much deeper. There are possible plans for robot workers to help in assisted-living facilities. It is entirely possible that the patients could anthropomorphize their caretakers, and possibly fall in unrequited love with them.

I've only brought up some of the questions discussed here, as there are many to be asked. None have easy answers. The answers that our future leaders come up with will affect society as we know it.… (mere)