Robot Ethics
About this book
Does a robot have moral agency? Can it be held responsible for its actions? Do humans owe robots anything? Will robots take our jobs? These are some of the ethical and moral quandaries that we should address now, as robots and other intelligent devices become more widely used and more technically sophisticated. In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, philosopher Mark Coeckelbergh does just that. He considers a variety of robotics technologies and applicationsâfrom robotic companions to military dronesâand identifies the ethical implications of their use. Questions of robot ethics, he argues, are not just about robots but are, crucially, about humans as well.
Coeckelbergh examines industrial robots and their potential to take over tasks from humans; "social" robots and possible risks to privacy; and robots in health care and their effect on quality of care. He considers whether a machine can be moral, or have morality built in; how we ascribe moral status; and if machines should be allowed to make decisions about life and death. When we discuss robot ethics from a philosophical angle, Coeckelbergh argues, robots can function as mirrors for reflecting on the human. Robot ethics is more than applied ethics; it is a way of doing philosophy.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Contents
- Series Foreword
- 1âIntroduction: What Is Robot Ethics About?
- 2âIndustrial Robots, Safety, and the Future of Work
- 3âRobotic Home Companions, Privacy, and Deception
- 4âCare Robots, Expertise, and the Quality of Health Care
- 5âSelf-Driving Cars, Moral Agency, and Responsibility
- 6âUncanny Androids, Appearance, and Moral Patiency
- 7âKiller Drones, Distance, and Human Existence
- 8âRobotic Mirrors beyond the Human: Robot Ethics as an Environmental Ethics
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Further Reading
- Index
