Bridging Ethics and Reality: Integrating Thought Experiments and Empirical Insights in Robot Ethics

Abstract

The integration of robots into daily life introduces complex ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) stemming from their interactions with humans. Social robots can operate in environments rich with cultural norms, emotions, and social cues, raising critical questions about privacy, trust, and safety. In this paper, we explore how the interdisciplinary field of robot ethics can address these challenges through a hybrid methodological concept that combines thought experiments and empirical research. Thought experiments offer a platform for systematically analyzing ethical dilemmas, while empirical methods provide real-world insights to validate and refine these theoretical frameworks. The paper particularly emphasizes the utilization of living labs as dynamic environments for testing and integrating ethical design principles into robot design to ensure robots align with ethical expectations and legal standards.