Mark Coeckelbergh - Robot Ethics

The MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series

A complete list of books in this series can be found online at https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/series/mit-press-essential-knowledge-series.

Mark Coeckelbergh

The MIT Press | Cambridge, Massachusetts | London, England

2022 Massachusetts Institute of Technology

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Coeckelbergh, Mark, author.

Title: Robot ethics / Mark Coeckelbergh.

Description: Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [2022] | Series: The MIT Press essential knowledge series | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021033925 | ISBN 9780262544092

Subjects: LCSH: RobotsMoral and ethical aspects. | RobotsSocial aspects.

Classification: LCC TJ211.28 .C64 2022 | DDC 174/.9629892dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021033925

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In the 2004 US science-fiction film I, Robot, humanoid robots serve humanity. Yet not all is going well. After an accident, a man is rescued from the sinking car by a robot, but a twelve-year-old girl is not saved. The robot calculated that the man had a higher chance of survival; humans may have made another choice. Later in the film, robots try to take over power from humans. The robots are controlled by an artificial intelligence (AI), VIKI, which decided that restraining human behavior and killing some humans will ensure the survival of humanity. The film illustrates the fear that humanoid robots and AI are taking over the world. It also points to hypothetical ethical dilemmas should robots and AI reach general intelligence. But is this what robot ethics is and should be about?

Usually when people think about robots, the first image that comes to mind is a highly intelligent, humanlike robot. Often that image is derived from science fiction, where we find robots that look and behave more or less like humans. Many narratives warn about robots that take over; the fear is that they are no longer our servants but instead make us into their slaves. The very term robot means forced labor in Czech and appears in Karel apeks play R.U.R., staged in Prague in 1921just over a hundred years ago. The play stands in a long history of stories about humanlike rebelling machines, from Mary Shelleys Frankenstein to films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Terminator, Blade Runner, and I, Robot. In the public imagination, robots are frequently the object of fear and fascination at the same time. We are afraid that they will take over, but at the same time it is exciting to think about creating an artificial being that is like us. Part of our romantic heritage, robots are projections of our dreams and nightmares about creating an artificial other.

First these robots are mainly scary; they are monsters and uncanny. But at the beginning of the twenty-first century, a different image of robots emerges in the West: the robot as companion, friend, and perhaps even partner. The idea is now that robots should not be confined to industrial factories or remote planets in space. In the contemporary imagination, they are liberated from their dirty slave work, and enter the home as pleasant, helpful, and sometimes sexy social partners you can talk to. In some films, they still ultimately rebelthink about Ex Machina, for examplebut generally they become what robot designers call social robots. They are designed for natural human-robot interactionthat is, interaction in the way that we are used to interacting with other humans or pets. They are designed to be not scary or monstrous but instead cute, helpful, entertaining, funny, and seductive.

This brings us to real life. The robots are not coming; they are already here. But they are not quite like the robots we meet in science fiction. They are not like Frankensteins monster or the Terminator. They are industrial robots and, sometimes, social robots. The latter are not as intelligent as humans or their science-fiction kin, though, and often do not have a human shape. Even sex robots are not as smart or conversationally capable as the robot depicted in Ex Machina. In spite of recent developments in AI, most robots are not humanlike in any sense. That said, robots are here, and they are here to stay. They are more intelligent and more capable of autonomous functioning than before. And there are more real-world applications. Robots are not only used in industry but also health care, transportation, and home assistance.

The robots are not coming; they are already here. But they are not quite like the robots we meet in science fiction.

Often this makes the lives of humans easier. Yet there are problems too. Some robots may be dangerous indeednot because they will try to kill or seduce you (although killer drones and sex robots are also on the menu of robot ethics), but usually for more mundane reasons such as because they may take your job, may deceive you into thinking that they are a person, and can cause accidents when you use them as a taxi. Such fears are not science fiction; they concern the near future. More generally, since the impact of nuclear, digital, and other technologies on our lives and planet, there is a growing awareness and recognition that technologies are making fundamental changes to our lives, societies, and environment, and therefore we better think more, and more critically, about their use and development. There is a sense of urgency: we better understand and evaluate technologies now, before it is too latethat is, before they have impacts nobody wants. This argument can also be made for the development and use of robotics: let us consider the ethical issues raised by robots and their use at the stage of development rather than after the fact. Let me say more about the aims and scope of this book.

To the extent that robotics and automation technologies leave the realm of science fiction and increasingly enter our daily lives, it is important not only to see the potential benefits and opportunities but also discuss the ethical and societal questions they raise, now and in the near future. Consider, for instance industrial robots that get increasingly intelligent and work with humans in factories, robots used by vulnerable users such as children, the self-driving cars that are being developed by nearly all major car manufacturers, robots used for surgery in hospitals, and lethal drones that are used in warfare. This book responds to these issues by offering an overview of some key ethical and societal problems along with a range of conceptual tools from robot ethics to think about these problems. It gives examples of practical robotics applications, identifies ethical and societal issues with these applications, and offers conceptual tools to deal with these issues. The idea behind this practical angle is that in this way, robot ethics can help in rendering the development and governance of robotics more ethically responsible.