Social and Ethical Aspects of Automation

Abstract

This contribution deals with social and ethical aspects of automation. Because of the fast development of manufacturing automation, especially in the field of robotics, there is increasing emphasis on using modern robotics in Production 4 (5).0. Therefore, the main goal of this contribution is to give an overview about the state of the art and further development trends in this field. Special emphasis will be on new approaches like the new generation of collaborative robots (COBOTS). This yields to new questions in ethical and social sciences like the education of the operators (robocooperators). For the first time legal aspects of robots in manufacturing automation and their influences on ethics and social issues are introduced and shortly discussed with special emphasis to SME’s.