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Deb Moore

March 11, 2013

The Battle about the Ethics of Robotics

With the development of new technology, there is a debate on how far the research and development in robots and robotic sciences should go before getting into problems ethically. Throughout the years, robots have gone from being a science fiction dream to reality. The studies and funding for robots have increased with the development of technology becoming more advanced. People are concerned about the ethics of robotics because of the interaction between humans and robots, the development of robots and the sciences behind them, and also how far to go with the advancements. Three articles that discuss and observe the ethical issues of robots are “Humanoid and Android Science” by Hiroshi Ishiguro and Minoru Asada, “The Ethical Frontiers of Robotics” by Noel Sharkey, and “The Way Forward in the World of Robotics,” by Kenneth W. Goodman and Norman G. Einspruch.

Hiroshi Ishiguro and Minoru Asada, research scientists at Osaka University in Japan specializing in the design of interactive humanoids, discuss these issues like the interaction between robots and humans in the article written in 2006, “Humanoid and Android Science”. The need to make robots humanlike or to “find a human in the humanoid” has been the goal many scientists try to reach (333). Robotic researchers have begun shifting the focus from the appearance of robots to the interaction between robots and humans. The focus of the robot/human interaction bases its studies on the engineering and cognitive science also known as “android science” (333). This style of science focuses on finding “essential factors” to make a “humanlike robot” (334). This article explains the different steps required to make the interactions between humans and robots.

Noel Sharkey, a professor of computer science at the University of Sheffield in England, states in his article written in 2008, “The Ethical Frontiers of Robotics”, the problems interactions between robots and humans may face. Sharkey uses examples of how the interactions between robots and humans, if made, could affect people in a negative way. He uses the example of if children are left alone for long periods of time in the care of robots, it could have “possible psychological impact” (358). He also uses the example of how studies of early development in young monkeys have shown “severe social dysfunction” occurs when an infant animal develops under the care and makes attachments to inanimate surrogates to stress the damage robot and human interactions can cause if pushed to far (358). Sharkey also uses the example of how elderly people need human contact, and with the use of interactive robots, how this could be taken away.

On the other side of this battle, some observers discuss how there is little evidence and research done, there is no way to say human/robot interactions are good or bad. In the article, “The Way Forward in the World of Robotics,” by Kenneth W. Goodman and Norman G. Einspruch, they infer that the ethical challenge of human/robot interaction does not invoke “threats of child neglect and abuse” (361). They also imply that until research is done, “we must suspend judgment, such research might, in fact, find no harm at all” (362).

In the battle for the ethics of robotics, some observers may see the development of robots becoming a problem ethically. In the article, “Humanoid and Android Science,” they discuss the direction the science and development is targeting. The engineering and scientific approaches to this problem have found that the way to define and perceive “humanlikeness” is the fact “humans have both conscious and unconscious recognition” (335). This is fact is making the path to revolutionize android development and helps have a better understanding of the human brain and the “mechanism of recognition” (335.) Kenneth W. Goodman and Norman G. Einspruch state in their article, “The Way Forward in the World of Robotics”, that the development of robots should not be limited by “worst-case scenarios” (362). The development of robots should be determined by the advancements of technology. With the challenge of technology changing, the development of robots should consider “suitable precautions, constraints, and trade-offs” to protect “safety, privacy, and liberty” (362).