Robots and systems as autonomous ethical agents

• IT systems and robots can help us to solve many problems caused by the quantity, variation and complexity of information; because we need to handle dangerous and risky situations; or because of our social and emotional needs like elderly care. In helping us, these systems have to make decisions and act accordingly to achieve the goals for which they were built. Ethical decision support tools can be integrated into robots and other decision making systems to secure that decisions are made according to the basic theories of philosophy and to the findings of psychological research.  This can be done, in non-independent systems, as a way for the system to report to its operator, and to support the operator's ethical decision making. On the other hand, fully independent systems should be able to regulate their own decision making strategies and processes. However, this cannot be based on normative predefined criteria, or on the ability to make choices, or on having own control, or on ability of rational processing.  It seems that it is necessary for an independent robot or decision system to have "emotions." That is, a kind of ultimate purposes that can lead the decision process, and depending on the circumstances, guide the adoption of a decision strategy, whatever it may be, rational, heuristic or automatic.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Människa-datorinteraktion (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Human Computer Interaction (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Datorseende och robotik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Computer Vision and Robotics (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Datavetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Computer Sciences (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Mänsklig interaktion med IKT (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Human Aspects of ICT (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

robots

systems

autonomous

independent

decision making

ethics

moral

Computer science

Datavetenskap

Information technology

Informationsteknik

Philosophy subjects

Filosofiämnen

Ethics

Etik

Psychology

Psykologi

Human-Computer Interaction

Människa-dator interaktion

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)