Ethics and Robotics
Richard A. Burgess, M.A.
Texas Tech T
-
STEM Center
and
Deputy Director,
National Institute for Engineering Ethics
Summer 2012
Three Laws of Robotics
–
Isaac Asimov
1. A robot may not injure a human
being or, through inaction, allow a
human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given to it
by human beings except where such
orders would conflict with the First
Law.
3. A robot must protect its own
existence as long as such protection
does not conflict with the First or
Second Law.
Introduction
•
While Asimov’s Three Laws are interesting, we will
not be focusing on them.
•
We will explore how to incorporate ethics into
robotics PBLs.
•
Some of the techniques and questions we will look at
can be easily adapted to other types of projects and
activities.
Questions to Teach Ethics
•
Well
-
formulated questions are a great way to
generate discussion among students and
teachers.
•
Questions also allow us to explore the various
facets of technology.
•
Five questions to be inserted at various stages
in the PBL.
Question 1
•
What materials and resources will be needed
to construct, operate, and maintain robots?
•
Materials
•
Durability
•
Cost
•
Accessibility
•
Sustainability/Disposability
•
Resources
•
Energy required to construct robots
•
Energy required to operate them
Question 2
•
Who would use this technology?
•
Does the choice of materials affect cost which in
turn affects who could use robots?
•
Who would use robots and how would they be
impacted physically, emotionally, and financially?
Question 3
•
Besides the people using the technology, who
else might be affected by it?
•
Will people’s jobs change in virtue of robots?
Positively? Negatively?
•
What about those living around the factories
responsible for producing the robots? Will they
be impacted? If so, how?
Question 4
•
What else might be affected?
•
How will robots impact the inanimate world? The
urban environment? Hospitals, nursing homes,
assisted living facilities?
•
Animals around us?
Question 5
•
What will we do with robots once they are
outdated or otherwise not being used
anymore?
•
How will we store and/or dispose of robots? Will
we recycle certain components?
•
Could and should we ship robots we are no longer
using to countries that might benefit from them?
Discussion and Guidance
•
Facilitating discussion via questions is a good
start.
•
In order to promote ethical reasoning, it is
worthwhile to draw attention to potential
sources of guidance regarding the questions.
•
Engineering codes of ethics (available online)
Robots in Healthcare
•
The use of robots in healthcare will raise
ethical issues.
•
Consider the roles robots might serve:
•
Lifting patients/helping them ambulate: this could
potentially decrease injuries to both healthcare workers
and patients.
•
Dispense medication: this could free up nurses and other
staff to address other needs.
•
Robots as companions: could keep some patients company
More Questions
•
Who is affected by the use of robots in
healthcare? Directly? Indirectly? (e.g.,
patients, health care workers, administrators,
family members)
•
Will healthcare workers lose their jobs?
•
How will family members be affected? They
might find themselves freed from some of the
burdens of providing care but also isolated
from the patient.
Robots as Companions
•
“Robot caregivers: harbingers of expanded
freedom for all?” Jason Borenstein and Yvette
Pearson in Ethics and Information Technology,
volume 12, issue 3, September 2010
•
“The presence of certain kinds of robots may
ease depression caused by loneliness. Even if
robots do not provide genuine friendship,
they may mitigate feelings of isolation.”
•
Robots to help care for autistic children.
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