A Review of Future and Ethical Perspectives of Robotics and AI

Abstract

In recent years, there has been increased attention on the possible impact of future robotics and AI systems. Prominent thinkers have publicly warned about the risk of a dystopian future when the complexity of these systems progresses further. These warnings stand in contrast to the current state-of-the-art of the robotics and AI technology. This article reviews work considering both the future potential of robotics and AI systems, and ethical considerations that need to be taken in order to avoid a dystopian future. References to recent initiatives to outline ethical guidelines for both the design of systems and how they should operate are included.

The Ethical Dimensions of Public Opinion on Smart Robots

“…The field of robotics applications is broadening in accordance with scientific and technological achievements across various research domains (Veruggio & Operto, 2006). In particular, recent advances in AI and deep learning have had a major impact on the development of smart robots (Torresen, 2018). As a result of scientific and technological progress in these fields, it is increasingly difficult for manufacturers to estimate the state of awareness and knowledge people have about smart robots (Dekoulis, 2017).…”

“…There are many other ethical challenges arising along with robotics, including the future of work (rising unemployment due to robotic automation) and technology risks (loss of human skills due to technological dependence, or destructive robots) (Lin et al, 2011;Torresen, 2018). Further ethical challenges include the humanization of HMI (cognitive and affective bonds toward machines, "the Tamagotchi effect"), anthropomorphization of robots (the illusion that robots have internal states that correspond to emotions they express in words), technology addiction, the effect of robotics on the fair distribution of wealth and power, including a reduction of the sociotechnological divide, and equal accessibility to care robots.…”

“…Tsafestas (2018) adds a note of foresight, that not only will there be many types of robots (for example, industrial, service, social, assistive, home), but also that robots will become more and more involved in human life in the near future. In particular, "smart robots" are expected to achieve widespread diffusion in society (Torresen, 2018). As such, it is best for us to be prepared, by starting to understand the effects such robots will have on society and our personal lives, so that we may, as Marshall McLuhan noted, "think things out before we put them out" (1964).…”

“…Robotics applications must meet numerous legal and social requirements before they will be accepted by society (Lin et al, 2011;Alsegier, 2016). Thus, Torresen (2018) argues that designers of smart robots should ensure, 1) safety (mechanisms to control a robot's autonomy), 2) security (preventing inappropriate use of a robot), 3) traceability (a "black box" records a robot's behaviour), 4) identifiability (a robot's identification number), and 5) This article investigates public opinion about smart robots, with special focus on the ethical dimension. In so doing, the study reviews relevant literature and analyzes data from the comments sections of four publically available online news articles on smart robots.…”

“…Nonetheless, although public opinion on robots may be positive, there is anxiety about robots replacing humans in the labour force (Gnambs, 2019;Tuisku et al, 2019). Other concerns include, for example, technology addiction, robotic effects on human relations, the risk of a dystopian future, the lack of control in robotics development, and in general the difficult category of ethics (Cave et al, 2019;Operto, 2019;Torresen, 2018). Opinions about killer robots and sex robots are particularly polarized (Horowitz, 2016;Javaheri et al, 2019).…”