methodological issues in the ethics of human- robot interactions rafael capurro (stuttgart media...

Methodological Issues in the Ethics of Human-Robot Interactions

Rafael Capurro (Stuttgart Media University) Michael Nagenborg (University of Karlsruhe) Jutta Weber (Universität Duisburg-Essen)Christoph Pingel (Center for Art and Media)

Capurro/Nagenborg/Weber/Pingel: Methodological Issues in the Ethics of Human-Robot Interactions

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ContentIntroduction

A. Meta-theoretical Questions

B. Techno-Ethical Issues

1. General background

2. Epistemological, ontological, and psychoanalytic implications

3. Ethical aspects of man-machine relations

Conclusion


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Introduction

What kind of societal conflicts and power relations are intertwined in the production and usage of agents and robots?

How does the fusion of science, technology, industry and politics come into play?

What about the military interest in robotics and agents?


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Introduction

A reflection on the socio-cultural context of the debate on robots and agents is needed.

A central task for techno-ethics is to learn the lessons from the discussion on bioethics


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Introduction

For example: We should avoid abstract discussions of the agency or intentionality of agents and robots and reflect whether they are helpful to work out the contest on the future development and use of agents and robots.


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A. Meta-Theoretical Questions

From which standpoint do we as ethicists speak and for whom?

What are the consequences and what is the (potential) field of application of an ethics of human interaction with communication, bionic and robotic systems (in the following „techo-ethics“)


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Techno-ethics should support strong, contestatory democratic practice and citizen activity that is involved in the creation of techno-scientific artifacts.


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The leading question is how to design an interdisciplinary process that also involves engineers and technology designers in the ongoing discussion.


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1. General Background

The massive use of robots will change society probably in a similar way as cars and airplanes (and in former times: ships etc.) did and it already changed society – think of industrial robots in the workplace who are an important factor with regard to the growing unemployment in Europe.


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This broad view of societal changes and consequently of the view(s) of ourselves, including our (moral) values, is fundamental There may be a re-definition of what it means to be human For instance the EU Charter of Human Rights is human centered. The massive use of robots may challenge this anthropocentric perspective.


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Why do we want to live with robots? What do we live with robots for? There are different levels of reflection when answering these questions, starting with the trivial one that robots can be very useful and indeed indispensable for instance in today’s industrial production or when dealing with situations in which the dangers for humans are big.


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2. Epistemological, ontological, and psychoanalytic implications

The relation between humans and robots can be conceived as an envy relation in which humans either envy robots for what they are or they envy other humans for having robots that they do not have. In the first case, envy can be positive in case the robot is considered either as a model to be imitated or negative in case the relationship degenerates into rivalry.


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This last possibility is exemplified in many science fiction movies and novels in which robots and humans are supposed to compete. Robots are then often represented as emotion-free androids, lacking moral sense and therefore less worth than humans. Counter examples are for instance 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick 1968) or Stanislaw Lem’s novel “Golem XIV” (Lem 1981).


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The “mimetic conflict” (René Girard) arises not only by the fact of imitating what a robot can do but more basically of imitating what ‘it’ is supposed to desire. But a robot’s desires are paradoxically our own since we are the creators. The positive and negative views of robots shine back into human self-understanding leading to the idea of enhancing human capabilities for instance by implanting artificial devices in the human body


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When robots are used by humans for different tasks, a situation arises in which the “mimetic desire” is articulated either as a question of justice (a future robot divide) or as new kind of envy. The object of envy is not the robot itself but the other human using/having it.


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B. Techno-Ethical IssuesThe foundational ethical dilemma with

regard to robots is thus not just the question of their good or bad use but the question of our relation to our own desire with all its creative and destructive mimetic dynamism that includes not only strategies such as envy, rivalry and model but also their trivial use as a tool that eventually turns to be a question of social justice.


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B. Techno-Ethical IssuesIn a mythical sense robots are experienced

by our secularized and technological society as scapegoat for what is conceived the humanness of humanity whose most high and global expression is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. From this mythical perspective, robots are the bad and the good conscience of ourselves.


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An ethical reflection on robots must take care of these pitfalls particularly when considering the dangers of the mimetic desire with regard to human dignity, autonomy or data protection. It must reflect the double bind relationship between humans and robots.


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B. Techno-ethical issues

3. Ethical aspects of man-machine relations

How do we live in a technological environment? What is the impact of robots on society? How do we (as users) handle robots? What methods and means are used today to model the interface between man and machine?


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What to think about the mimicry of emotions and stereotypes of social norms? What kind of language / rhetorics is used in describing the problem of agent and bots – and which one do we want to use?


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In AI and robotics we can often find a sloppy usage of language which supports anthropomorphising agents. This language often implies the intentionality and autonomy of agents – for example when researcher speak of learning, experience, emotion, decision making (and so on) of agents. How are we in science and in our social practices going to handle this problem?


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Robots are not ready-made products of engineers and computer scientists but devices and emerging technologies in the making. What are the consequences of the fact that

today ICT devices are developed by computer scientists and engineers only?

What is the meaning of the relation master-slave with regard to robots?

What is the meaning of robot as a partner in different settings?


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Recent research on social robots is focussing on the creation of interactive systems that are able to recognise others, interpret gestures and verbal expressions, which recognize and express emotions and that are capable of social learning. A central question concerning social robotics is how "building such technologies shapes our self-understanding, and how these technologies impact society" (Breazeal 2002, 5).


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To understand the implications of these developments it is important to analyse central concepts of social robotics like the social, sociality, human nature and human-style interactions.


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Some main questions are: What concepts of sociality are translated into action by social robotics? How is social behaviour conceptualised, shaped, or instantiated in software implementation processes? And what kind of social behaviours do we want to shape and implement into artefacts?


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There is a tendency to develop robots modeling some aspects of human behavior instead of developing an android (Arnall 2003). Relative autonomy is a goal for physical robots as well as for softbots. What is the meaning of the concept of autonomy in robotics? What are the affinities and differences between the robotic discourse and the philosophical discourse?


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Obviously, we can experience a strong bidirectional travel of the concept of autonomy (as well as that of sociality, emotion and intelligence) between very diverse discourses and disciplines. How does the concept transfer between the disciplines and especially the strong impact of robotics change the traditional meanings of concepts like autonomy, sociality, emotion and intelligence


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Having regard to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights following ethical questions might arise:

(a) Who is responsible for undesired results of actions carried out by human-robot hybrid teams?

(b) How is the monitoring and processing of personal data by AI agents to be regulated?

(c) Can bionic implants be used to enhance, rather than restore, physical and intellectual capabilities?


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All three questions address possibilities that have an immediate impact on single human beings, since

(a) responsibility is traditionally attributed to single actors (with include individuals),

(b) the human right to privacy protects the ability to live autonomously, and

(c) enhancements are for the benefits of a singular person.


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But the importance of robot-human-integration goes beyond the level of the single individual, and address the question about how society or community could and should look like in which bots are integrated.


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Interaction with bots may build new forms of communities. Close attention should be paid to what groups of individuals are likely to interact with certain kind of bots in a certain context while at the same time keeping the perspective on the impact of the specific interactions on the communities and societies in which this specific forms of interactions take place.


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All three forms of human-bot integration may include aspects of violation as well as fostering of human rights and dignity. It may not even ruled out that one and the same technology may do have both positive and negative effects. Surveillances infrastructures may be considered harmful with regard to privacy, but they may also enable us to create new kinds of communities.


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Conclusion

The potential benefits or harm may be caused by certain forms of human-bot-integration.

How to dissolve arising conflicts, especially if there is a conflict between the individual perspective and the perspective of a society or community?


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Conclusion

Such kind of enhancements might be considered a benefit to an individual but also raise new questions such as whether only an elite might be able to transform themselves into cyborgs or – a worst case scenario – whether the unemployed would be forced to have some sorts of implants to enable them to do certain jobs.


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Conclusion

At the time given, there is no need to address the issue of whether bots should be seen as persons.

Present ethical questions raise the point of human responsibility as a fundamental issue to be addressed in an ethical enquiry on techno-ethics.


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Conclusion

This includes questions such as:

(a) Who and how should according to which principles adscript responsibility to whom in cases that involve human-bot integration? and what should be the consequences of such an adscription?


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Conclusion

(b) Who is responsible for designing and maintaining an infrastructure in which information about persons is collected and processed?


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Conclusion

(c) How does the possibility of invasive human-bot integration have influence on the concept of responsibility?


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Conclusion

This includes

(i) Does the fact that a human being is enhanced lead to a special kind of responsibility?

(ii) What are the consequences for whose who are responsible for providing the technology used for enhancement?


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Robots are less our slaves – which is a projection of the mimetic desire of societies in which slavery was permitted and/or promoted – than a tool for human interaction. This throws questions of privacy and trust (Arnall 2003, 59) but also of the way we define ourselves as workers in industry, service and entertainment.

Conclusion


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Conclusion

This concerns different kinds of cultural approaches to robots in Europe and in other cultures that may have different impact in a global world. Different cultures have different views on autonomy and human dignity.

methodological issues in the ethics of human- robot interactions rafael capurro (stuttgart media...

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