Robot Ethics

Mark Coeckelbergh

• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9780262370493
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Philosophy & Ethics in Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

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 applications—from robotic companions to military drones—and 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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Series Foreword
• 1 Introduction: What Is Robot Ethics About?
• 2 Industrial Robots, Safety, and the Future of Work
• 3 Robotic Home Companions, Privacy, and Deception
• 4 Care Robots, Expertise, and the Quality of Health Care
• 5 Self-Driving Cars, Moral Agency, and Responsibility
• 6 Uncanny Androids, Appearance, and Moral Patiency
• 7 Killer Drones, Distance, and Human Existence
• 8 Robotic Mirrors beyond the Human: Robot Ethics as an Environmental Ethics
• Acknowledgments
• Glossary
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Further Reading
• Index