Ethics Newsline®

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The ethics of robotics — until recently marginalized as a fringe issue — is increasingly becoming a topic of debate in the mainstream media. Last week saw a series of reports in the world press dealing with the morality of machinery:

• The Economist reports that the U.S. Department of Defense is looking to replace a third of its armed vehicles and weaponry with robots by 2015. The change would save money, the report claims, but also change the political complexion of war, making it less vulnerable “to the politics of body bags…. No one mourns a dead robot.” In addition, scientists, including Ronald Arkin of the Georgia Institute of Technology, are developing a set of rules that amount to a robotic soldier’s code of ethics — factoring in, for example, whether a target was drawing near to a school bus, and therefore deciding to hold fire.
• From London, the Guardian reports that scientists in the United Kingdom are criticizing a recent government report on robot ethics, saying that instead of focusing on long-term speculation over the morals of super-intelligent robots of the future, the public should be worrying now about the ethics implications of robots in the police and military. The Guardian notes that military applications of robotics already are surfacing: Last year, for example, the South Korean military unveiled a robot border guard that can hit targets 500 meters away. One researcher interviewed for the piece claimed that robots will become more widely used in policing and surveillance, but noted that there has been very little public debate on the ethics of these issues.
• The Glasgow Herald and the Belfast Telegraph report that some researchers are concerned about the implications of robots becoming caretakers and companions for the elderly. Professor Noel Sharkey of Sheffield University says prototypes for robot caregivers already are being tested. “The robots are programmed to follow the elderly around and make sure they take their drugs. I find that highly concerning,” Sharkey tells the Herald. “I’m 58 now and I fear that in my future I will be dumped in a home where I am cared for by machines. We need to have a public debate and we need to have it now, before the robots really bore into our society.”