Q&A: Robotics engineer aims to give robots a humane touch
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| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman-Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
Computer Engineering Computer Science Electrical Engineering Engineering Ethics Industrial Engineering Information Technology Manufacturing Engineering Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics |
| Special Topic(s): | |
| Learning Resource Type: |
Reference - Article/Document |
| Media Type: |
Unknown |
| Author(s): |
Dara Kerr Ronald Arkin |
| Description: | Excerpt from interview: "Can robots be more humane than humans in fighting wars? Robotics engineer Ronald Arkin of the Georgia Institute of Technology believes this is a not-too-distant possibility. He has just finished a three-year contract with the U.S. Army designing software to create ethical robots. As robots are increasingly being used by the U.S. military, Arkin has devoted his lifework to configuring robots with a built-in "guilt system" that eventually could make them better at avoiding civilian casualties than human soldiers. These military robots would be embedded with internationally prescribed laws of war and rules of engagement, such as those in the Geneva Conventions. Arkin talked with CNET News about how robots can be ethically programmed and some of the philosophical questions that come up when using machines in warfare. Below is an edited excerpt of our conversation. Q: What made you first begin thinking about designing software to create ethical robots? Arkin: I'd been working in robotics for almost 25 years and I noticed the successes that had been happening in the field. Progress had been steady and sure and it started to dawn on me that these systems are ready, willing, and able to begin going out into the battlefield on behalf of our soldiers. Then the question came up--what is the right ethical basis for these systems? How are we going to ensure that they could behave appropriately to the standards we set for our human war fighters? In 2004, at the first international symposium on roboethics in Sanremo, Italy, we had speakers from the Vatican, the Geneva Conventions, the Pugwash Institute, and it became clear that this was a pressing problem. Trying to view myself as a responsible scientist, I felt it was important to do something about it and that got me embarked on this quest. " |
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| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | ethics robotics engineering ethics ethical robots |
| Usage Tip | |
| Related ABET Criteria: |
(f) Understand professional and ethical responsibility |
| Use of Resource: |
Interesting case for engineering ethics class. Forces self-reflection on human behavior as well. Consider quote from Arkin: "Right now, we are looking at designing systems that can comply with internationally prescribed laws of war and our own codes of conduct and rules of engagement. We've decided it is important to embed in these systems with the moral emotion of guilt." |
| Difficulty: |
Easy |
| Interactivity Level: |
Low |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | July 2009 |
| Platform/Format: |
WWW |
| Cost: |
Free |
| Download URL: | http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10281328-76.html |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
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