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Towards Human–Robot Interaction Ethics

  • Chapter
A Construction Manual for Robots' Ethical Systems

Part of the book series: Cognitive Technologies ((COGTECH))

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Abstract

Social assistive robots are envisioned as supporting their users not only physically but also by communicating with them. Monitoring medication, reminders, etc., are typical examples of such tasks. This kind of assistance presupposes that such a robot is able to interact socially with a human. The issue that is discussed in this chapter is whether human–robot social interaction raises ethical questions that have to be dealt with by the robot. A tour d’horizon of possibly related fields of communication ethics allows to outline the distinctive features and requirements of such an “interaction ethics”. Case studies on conversational phenomena show examples of ethical problems on the levels of the “mechanics” of conversation, meaning-making, and relationship. Finally, the chapter outlines the possible connections between decision ethics and interaction ethics in a robot’s behaviour control system.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ISO 13482:2014 Robots and robotic devices—Safety requirements for personal care robots. http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=53820.

  2. 2.

    This double game appears less astonishing when one considers how children play with their dolls and stuffed animals: one minute they are cuddled and “alive”, the next minute a neglected object, with an apparently effortless switch between the two modes.

  3. 3.

    Institute of Communication Ethics, http://www.communicationethics.net/home/index.php.

  4. 4.

    https://www.natcom.org/about/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Austrian Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence (OFAI), Freyung 6/6, 1010, Vienna, Austria

    Sabine Payr

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  1. Sabine Payr
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Correspondence to Sabine Payr .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Brian Research Medical University of Vienna, Austrian Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence (OFAI) of the Austrian Society for Cybernetic Studies (OSGK), Vienna, Austria

    Robert Trappl

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Payr, S. (2015). Towards Human–Robot Interaction Ethics. In: Trappl, R. (eds) A Construction Manual for Robots' Ethical Systems. Cognitive Technologies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21548-8_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21548-8_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21547-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-21548-8

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