Yvette E. Pearson

Robot caregivers: harbingers of expanded freedom for all?

As we near a time when robots may serve a vital function by becoming caregivers, it is important to examine the ethical implications of this development. By applying the capabilities approach as a guide to both the design and use of robot caregivers, we hope that this will maximize opportunities to preserve or expand freedom for care recipients. We think the use of the capabilities approach will be especially valuable for improving the ability of impaired persons to interface more effectively with their physical and social environments.

Direct-to-Consumer Marketing of Predictive Medical Genetic Tests: Assessment of Current Practices and Policy Recommendations

This research reviews the current state of affairs in the fast-growing area of direct-to-consumer marketing of genetic tests. The authors identify the unique nature of genetic tests and the ensuing consumer vulnerability. They also present a comprehensive examination of the current legal environment and an empirical analysis of genetic testing companies’ online marketing practices. On the basis of the analysis and review, they make a set of policy recommendations that consists of consumer education, physician intervention and education, and direct regulation of marketing activities, especially as they relate to the online medium.

Consuming Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Tests: The Role of Genetic Literacy and Knowledge Calibration

As direct-to-consumer marketing of medical genetic tests grows in popularity, there is an increasing need to better understand the ethical and public policy implications of such products. The complexity of genetic tests raises serious concerns about whether consumers possess the knowledge to make sound decisions about their use. This research examines the effects of educational intervention and feedback on consumers’ genetic literacy and calibration—the gap between consumers’ actual knowledge and how much they think they know. The authors find that consumers’ genetic knowledge was generally low and that people tended to underestimate their knowledge level. Furthermore, consumers’ perceived rather than actual knowledge levels drove attitude and purchase intention. Regarding the effect of educational intervention, exposure to an online educational module improved both genetic knowledge and calibration. Offering instant feedback resulted in greater knowledge gain than delayed feedback. The worst learning outcome occurred when feedback was both delayed and brief. On the basis of these findings, the authors offer recommendations for formulating ethically sound public policies in this area.

The Intervention of Robot Caregivers and the Cultivation of Children’s Capability to Play

In this article, the authors examine whether and how robot caregivers can contribute to the welfare of children with various cognitive and physical impairments by expanding recreational opportunities for these children. The capabilities approach is used as a basis for informing the relevant discussion. Though important in its own right, having the opportunity to play is essential to the development of other capabilities central to human flourishing. Drawing from empirical studies, the authors show that the use of various types of robots has already helped some children with impairments. Recognizing the potential ethical pitfalls of robot caregiver intervention, however, the authors examine these concerns and conclude that an appropriately designed robot caregiver has the potential to contribute positively to the development of the capability to play while also enhancing the ability of human caregivers to understand and interact with care recipients.

Crisis Management and Ethics: Moving Beyond the Public-Relations-Person-as-Corporate-Conscience Construct

Over the past 40 years, scholars and practitioners of public relations have often cast public relations workers in the role of the public relations-person-as-corporate-conscience (PRPaCC). This work, however, maintains that this construct is so problematic that invoking it is of negligible use in addressing ethical issues that emerge during a crisis. In fact, a complex crisis, such as the Jahi McMath “brain death” case at Children’s Hospital Oakland (CHO, now UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland), demonstrates the need to abandon the PRPaCC construct to better engage affected stakeholders, including “outsiders” to the organization, who often determine whether an organization is facing a crisis. Through an examination of both the concept of the PRPaCC and the McMath crisis, this work makes the case for moving beyond the PRPaCC construct in favor of a more modest role for the public relations person: facilitating widespread ethical deliberation and discussion throughout an organization, potentially helping the organization alleviate concerns that contribute to crises.

Creating “companions” for children: the ethics of designing esthetic features for robots

Taking the term “companion” in a broad sense to include robot caregivers, playmates, assistive devices, and toys, we examine ethical issues that emerge from designing companion robots for children. We focus on the relative importance and potential ethical implications of creating robots with certain types of esthetic features. We include an examination of whether robots ought to be made to appear or act humanlike, and whether robots should be gendered. In our estimation, this line of ethical inquiry may even provide insight into the nature and appropriateness of existing institutions and widely accepted interactions among human beings.

Companion Robots and the Emotional Development of Children

In this paper, we examine the design facets of a companion robot’s behaviour that may have a bearing on whether children will become well-adjusted adults. Though we will examine several types of design features and their potential effects on children, the unifying theme of our exploration will be our focus on the impact of child-robot interaction (CRI) on children’s development and their future welfare. To a large degree, we will analyse how encoding robots with a particular type of ‘personality’ may affect the emotional development of children. We will integrate into our discussion commonly embraced ethical principles such as beneficence and nonmaleficence; our discussion is also influenced by elements of the capabilities approach as articulated by Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen. Robots designed to serve as companions for children can range from rather simple devices that a child can use as a toy during playtime, such as My Keepon, to those that can engage in conversation or other relatively sophisticated activities. Included at the latter end of this spectrum is Kismet, a robot with an expressive voice and face that encourages interaction with humans and is capable of learning through this interaction. Embedded in the term ‘companion’ is the notion that at least some portion of a child’s, or other user’s, care will be entrusted to the robot. Arguably, there are advantages to pairing a child with a robotic companion during playtime or while interacting

Never let me clone? Countering an ethical argument against the reproductive cloning of humans

In the March 2006 issue of EMBO reports , Christof Tannert, a bioethicist at the Max Delbruck Research Centre in Berlin, Germany, presented a moral argument against human reproductive cloning on the basis of Immanuel Kants categorical imperative (Tannert, 2006). In this article, I address some problems with Tannerts views and show that our concerns about this prospective procedure should prompt us to scrutinize carefully the conventional procreative practices and attitudes. Indeed, if we set aside objections that are grounded in genetic determinism, many of the offensive features of human cloning are identical to problems with procreation by more conventional means, including both old‐fashioned procreation and assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). Oddly enough, many see only cloning as problematic, whereas identical problems with everyday procreation continue to go unnoticed. In his article, Tannert endeavours to provide us with a sound argument that human reproductive cloning “violates our basic moral principles”. He grounds his argument in Immanuel Kants central moral principle of respect for all humanity, which the great philosopher formulated as: “Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end, never as a means only” (Kant, 1785). In essence, Kants principle prohibits using rational creatures—humans—as mere instruments to attain ones own selfish goals. Tannert claims that human reproductive cloning—through somatic cell nuclear transfer or embryo splitting—is immoral because it violates this principle by using a human—the clone—for egoistical purposes. However, as I demonstrate, this assertion is problematic. Although treating people created by cloning as mere means—for example, as organ banks—would be morally unacceptable, it is misleading to identify cloning itself as the core problem. Furthermore, although Kants respect for humanity is of great practical value, it does not provide us with adequate guidance with …