When is a robot a moral agent?

Abstract

Introduction. Robots have been a part of our work environment for the past few decades, but they are no longer limited to factory automation. The additional range of activities they are being used for is growing. Robots are now automating a wide range of professional activities such as: aspects of the health-care industry, white collar office work, search and rescue operations, automated warfare, and the service industries. A subtle but far more personal revolution has begun in home automation as robot vacuums and toys are becoming more common in homes around the world. As these machines increase in capability and ubiquity, it is inevitable that they will impact our lives ethically as well as physically and emotionally. These impacts will be both positive and negative, and in this paper I will address the moral status of robots and how that status, both real and potential, should affect the way we design and use these technologies. Morality and Human-Robot Interactions. As robotics technology becomes more ubiquitous, the scope of human-robot interactions will grow. At the present time, these interactions are no different than the interactions one might have with any piece of technology, but as these machines become more interactive, they will become involved in situations that have a moral character that may be uncomfortably similar to the interactions we have with other sentient animals.