H.V. Ockham

aymee van wynberghe



                    university of twente


The AI dilemma for ethicists: the ethics of robot designers or designing robots to be ethical?

     While factory robots operate in a predictable environment, service robots function in unstructured and unpredictable human environments making the inclusion of artificial intelligence (AI) necessary. The introduction of AI robots into human contexts will impact society in profound ways. While there are many advertised benefits, some see this as an unwelcome development. The world-renowned Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking has warned recently that AI may be the end of mankind. There are fundamental ethical issues (e.g. robot responsibility, liability, and decision making) and applied issues (e.g. informed consent, privacy, safety and security). Both need to be addressed now.

     In this talk Aimee will explore the three dimensions of robot ethics: the ethics of the designers making robots, the ethics of society using robots, and the ethics of the robots themselves. The main point of attention is how the introduction of AI into society poses a new dilemma for robot ethicists, namely, do we program a robot to be ethical and moreover is such a feat even possible?