Ethical Aspects of social Robotics

Abstract

The paper explores the ethics of robotics as a branch of technoethics and the history of its formation and development. Three interpretations of ethics in the field of robotics are outlined. The first meaning deals with the professional ethics of robot engineers and designers and coincides with the term “roboethics” proposed by Gianmarco Verrugio. The second meaning (“ethics of robotics”) is related to the development of moral code programmed into robots. The third meaning (“robot’s ethics”) refers to considering robots as fully moral agents and has more to do with science fiction and theorizing rather than with the actual scope of research. The framework for analyzing the development of autonomous moral agents by Colin Allen and Wendell Wallach is used to investigate the dependence between autonomy of robots and their ethical sensitivity, which refers to the capability of robotic systems to be sensitive to morally relevant facts and to make moral choices. In this regard, we consider the option of progressing from operational morality, according to which the actions of machines are completely dependent on engineers and consumers, to the so-called functional morality, when machines will be able to evaluate their own actions and deal with moral challenges. Two main approaches to programming social robots are described: a top-down rule-based approach relying on ethical theories such as deontology and consequentialism (utilitarianism), as well as a bottom-up approach with an emphasis on virtue ethics. The top-down approach is considered from the perspective of anti-imperative criticism drawing upon Kant’s categorical imperative, Asimov’s three laws of robotics, and the utilitarian principle of maximum happiness for the maximum number of people. The paper investigates the potential benefits of virtue ethics and morality as a reflection of socio-cultural values for programming autonomous social robots.