Robot Ethics ─ The Ethical and Social Implications of Robotics

Robots today serve in many roles, from entertainer to educator to executioner. Asrobotics technology advances, ethical concerns become more pressing: Should robots be programmed tofollow a code of ethics, if this is even possible? Are there risks in forming emotional bonds withrobots? How might society--and ethics--change with robotics? This volume is the first book to bringtogether prominent scholars and experts from both science and the humanities to explore these andother questions in this emerging field. Starting with an overview of the issues and relevant ethicaltheories, the topics flow naturally from the possibility of programming robot ethics to the ethicaluse of military robots in war to legal and policy questions, including liability and privacyconcerns. The contributors then turn to human-robot emotional relationships, examining the ethicalimplications of robots as sexual partners, caregivers, and servants. Finally, they explore thepossibility that robots, whether biological-computational hybrids or pure machines, should be givenrights or moral consideration. Ethics is often slow to catch up with technological developments.This authoritative and accessible volume fills a gap in both scholarly literature and policydiscussion, offering an impressive collection of expert analyses of the most crucial topics in thisincreasingly important field.

Patrick Lin is a philosopher and Director of the Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group, based at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Keith Abney is a philosopher of science and Senior Lecturer at California Polytechnic State University. George A. Bekey is Professor Emeritus in Computer Science at University of Southern California and Distinguished Professor of Engineering at California Polytechnic State University.