Этические проблемы в области ассистивной робототехники для пожилых людей: философские vs эмпирические исследования

Abstract

Assistive robotics can provide technological support to meet the growing demand for health and social care as people's physical and cognitive functions decline with age. Companion robots can help elderly people with tasks such as mobility, communication and self-care. But do we have the moral right to delegate the duties of medical personnel to robots? Can robots provide the proper quality of medical care? Such reflections on the future of “machine” healthcare raise serious ethical questions in the field of human-robot interaction and determine not only priority developments in the field of social robotics, but also technological culture as a whole. Contemporary research on ethical issues in the field of assistive robotics for elderly people can be distinguished from two directions - traditional philosophical speculation and applied research with an emphasis on the participation of various stakeholders. The article discusses these two directions in detail, as well as criticism of philosophical and theoretical attitudes from the “empiricists”. In particular, they argue that along with ethical analysis, social expertise and philosophical reasoning, new forms of reflection, dialogue and experimentation are needed that will be much closer to innovative practices and contexts of use. The methodological basis of the article is the principles of Technology Assessment (TA), transdisciplinary research strategies such as the RRI approach, as well as Value-Sensitive Design (VSD). The article describes new options for value-based design, such as Integrative social robotics (ISR), Care-Centered Value-Sensitive Design (CCVSD). These approaches are quite promising for solving philosophical and ethical problems in the field of social robotics for caring for the elderly. But more direct and indirect stakeholders need to be involved in the design and development of medical robots. Based on the Stakeholder Tokens method, it is shown how some ethical problems can be solved in a situation of value conflict between autonomy, human dignity and security.