Ethics in emotion-oriented systems: The challenges for an ethics committee

Abstract

The development of emotion-oriented systems has the potential to raise a range of ethical issues, not all of which were clearly understood at the inception of the project. This chapter discusses these issues and details the practical measures taken and the challenges faced in addressing them. An ethical audit revealed a lack of consistency in ethical procedures across the institutions and disciplines involved in the network, and HUMAINE established its own ethics committee to offer ethical advice and scrutiny when required. In addition, space was provided within the project for discussion of ethical issues – a process that allowed the emergence of a wider understanding of the issues themselves and of the sensitivities of different disciplines and users to them.