Blay Whitby

Principles of robotics: regulating robots in the real world

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a set of five ethical principles, together with seven high-level messages, as a basis for responsible robotics. The Principles of Robotics were drafted in 2010 and published online in 2011. Since then the principles have influenced, and continue to influence, a number of initiatives in robot ethics but have not, to date, been formally published. This paper remedies that omission.

Computing machinery and morality

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology widely used to support human decision-making. Current areas of application include financial services, engineering, and management. A number of attempts to introduce AI decision support systems into areas which more obviously include moral judgement have been made. These include systems that give advice on patient care, on social benefit entitlement, and even ethical advice for medical professionals. Responding to these developments raises a complex set of moral questions. This paper proposes a clearer replacement question to them. The replacement question asks under what circumstances, if any, people would accept a moral judgement made by some sort of machine. Since, it is argued, the answer to this replacement question is positive, urgent practical moral problems are raised.

Automating Medicine the Ethical Way

Greatly increased automation in medicine is probably inevitable. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being introduced into medical practice is numerous ways from machine diagnosis, through robot surgery to psychotherapy that is delivered entirely by computer. However, there are many ethical challenges involved. The emerging field of machine medical ethics currently lags behind medical practice and contains many unresolved debates. In aviation a very high level of automation has brought increased safety and efficiency. However, this was not achieved by simply building the technology and requiring professionals to use it. Lessons from the aviation industry suggest that issues of acceptance and resistance by professionals can be successfully handled if they are fully engaged in the operational and procedural changes at all stages. Negotiation over procedures and responsibility for errors in aviation is complex and informative for other fields. If the aviation industry exemplifies the potential benefits, then the Information Technology (IT) industry, particularly AI, highlights the dangers. Since this industry produces the ‘machine’ part of machine medical ethics, it is unfortunately necessary to observe that, historically the IT industry has demonstrated rather low standards of ethics and social responsibility. Improved ethical awareness and professionalism will be needed for IT professionals to achieve ethically acceptable technology in medicine. Long-standing unresolved debates in IT ethics now need some conclusion. These include the ethical responsibility of IT professionals for unreliable technology or for human errors resulting from poor user interfaces. Given the pace of progress in both technology and clinical practice, there is an urgent need for progress in machine medical ethics. A brief set of initial recommendations is provided.

Cybernetic Bacteria 2.0

The transdisciplinary art project Cybernetic Bacteria 2.0 brings together an artist, a philosopher, a microbiologist, an artificial life programmer and an interactive media specialist, to investigate the relationship of the emerging science of bacterial communication to our own digital communications networks, looking in particular at packet data and bacterial quorum sensing. The project seeks to reflect the complexity of communication taking place at a microscopic level in comparison with human communication technologies such as the Internet.

Professionalism and AI

The time has come for all those working in AI to take the issue of professionalism seriously. Professional standards will be difficult to establish in AI. However, there will be pressure from various directions to produce a code or codes which will demonstrate that work is being done responsibly. Such codes will be largely worthless unless they are produced by people actually working at the ‘sharp end’ of AI.

Accidental nuclear war: the contribution of artificial intelligence

The AI community is seriously considering what all the military sponsorship would do to the prospect of being able to carry out basic research without, at the same time, putting the whole of our planets population at risk. The SDI proposals of a defence shield that completely protects a nation from offensive missiles pose so many technical questions concerning the reliability of computers which are needed to control it. It has been argued that the complexity and sensitivity to the context of application make the construction of programs extremely difficult.We examine the options which face AI researchers. Many have accepted that military money is necessary for the survival of the research community and that the military intentions are an unavoidable evil. Others have decided to accept military money if it does not involve development, production and use of weapons of mass destruction. One group goes even further and will not accept any form of military funding.We do not subscribe to this last notion, opting for the intermediate view. We feel that there are some aspects of work in AI which can, perhaps, improve our understanding of the nature of accidents which occur as a result of interaction between humans with complicated technological systems. Research in these areas, therefore, have a positive result in reducing the likelihood of a computer-generated Armageddon. The military should, therefore, be more far-sighted and support basic scientific research in AI.More information on these issues can be obtained from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, P.O. Box 717, Palo Alto, CA 94301, USA and Computing and Social Responsibility, c/o Jane Hesketh, 3 Buccleuch Terrace, Edinburgh EH8 9NB, UK.