On this page you can find abstracts of selected articles on information ethics and machine ethics (only available in English).

The Universal Robot of the 21st Century

Developments in several areas of computer science, robotics, and social robotics make it seem likely that a universal robot will be available for the mass market in the foreseeable future. Large language models for communication, perception, and control play a central role in this. This article briefly outlines the developments in the various areas and uses them to create the overall image of the universal robot. It then discusses the associated challenges from an ethical and social science perspec-tive. It can be said that the universal robot will bring with it new possibilities and will perhaps be one of the most powerful human tools in physical space. At the same time, numerous problems are foreseeable, individual, social, and ecological.

Keywords: Service Robots, Social Robots, Large Language Model, Generative AI

Bendel, Oliver. The Universal Robot of the 21st Century. In: Seibt, Johanna; Fazekas, Peter; Quick, Oliver (Ed.). Social Robots With AI: Prospects, Risks, and Responsible Methods: Proceedings of Robophilosophy 2024. IOS Press, Amsterdam 2024. (Will be published at the end of 2024)

Robots at arm’s length: Unveiling the dynamics of interpersonal distance preferences in human-robot interactions

In social interactions, interpersonal distance influences relationships, provides protection, and regulates arousal. Despite the intuitive nature of adopting specific distances, little is known about comfortable interpersonal distances with social robots. Here, 66 participants saw individuals standing face-to-face with a robot at different distances and pressed a button when seeing a woman or a man (in different blocks). In line with the negativity bias hypothesis, suggesting quicker reaction times to negative stimuli, participants showed a preference for increased distances, resulting in longer reaction times. Human-likeness of robots moderated the link between distance and arousal. The most human-like robot was less liked and evoked higher arousal. These findings have implications for designing social robots and optimizing interactions, particularly in educational or medical contexts.

Keywords: Social Robots, Human-robot Interaction, Social Interaction

Kühne, Katharina; Zimmer, Laura M.; Jeglinski-Mende, Melina; Bendel, Oliver, Zhou, Yuefang; Fischer, Martin H. Robots at arm’s length: Unveiling the dynamics of interpersonal distance preferences in human-robot interactions. In: Seibt, Johanna; Fazekas, Peter; Quick, Oliver (Hrsg.). Social Robots With AI: Prospects, Risks, and Responsible Methods: Proceedings of Robophilosophy 2024. IOS Press, Amsterdam 2024. (Will be published at the end of 2024)

How Can GenAI Foster Well-being in Self-regulated Learning?

This paper explores how generative AI (GenAI) can improve the well-being of learners within self-regulated learning (SRL) frameworks in the corporate context. In the „GenAI to Support SRL“ section, it presents three custom versions of ChatGPT aimed at assisting learners. These so-called GPTs demonstrate the GenAI’s potential to actively support learners in SRL and positively influence their well-being. The „Discussion“ and „Summary and Outlook“ sections provide a balanced overview of the opportunities and risks associated with GenAI in the field of learning and highlight directions for future research. The results indicate that GenAI could improve the well-being of learners in SRL through providing personalized guidance, reducing feelings of stress, and increasing motivation and self-efficacy. At the same time, there are several challenges for companies and employees that need to be overcome.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Self-regulated Learning, Well-being

Hauske, Stefanie; Bendel, Oliver. How Can GenAI Foster Well-being in Self-regulated Learning? In: Proceedings of the AAAI 2024 Spring Symposium Series, Symposium „Impact of GenAI on Social and Individual Well-being“. Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA, March 25–27, 2024. Via https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AAAI-SS/article/view/31234/33394.

How Can Generative AI Enhance the Well-being of Blind?

This paper examines the question of how generative AI can improve the well-being of blind or visually impaired people. It is based on a current example, the Be My Eyes app, in which the Be My AI feature was integrated in 2023, which is based on GPT-4 from OpenAI. The author’s tests are described and evaluated. There is also an ethical and social discussion. The power of the tool, which can analyze still images in an amazing way, is demonstrated. Those affected gain a new independence and a new perception of their environment. At the same time, they are dependent on the world view and morality of the provider or developer, who prescribe or deny them certain descriptions. An outlook makes it clear that the analysis of moving images will mean a further leap forward. It is fair to say that generative AI can fundamentally improve the well-being of blind and visually impaired people and will change it in various ways.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Well-being, Blind

Bendel, Oliver. How Can Generative AI Enhance the Well-being of Blind? In: Proceedings of the AAAI 2024 Spring Symposium Series, Symposium „Impact of GenAI on Social and Individual Well-being“. Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA, March 25–27, 2024. Via https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AAAI-SS/article/view/31232/33392.

@llegra: a chatbot for Vallader

Extinct and endangered languages have been preserved primarily through audio conservation and the collection and digitization of scripts and have been promoted through targeted language acquisition efforts. Another possibility would be to build conversational agents like chatbots or voice assistants that can master these languages. This would provide an artificial, active conversational partner which has knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar and allows one to learn with it in a different way. The chatbot, @llegra, with which one can communicate in the Rhaeto-Romanic idiom Vallader was developed in 2023 based on GPT-4. It can process and output text and has voice output. It was additionally equipped with a manually created knowledge base. After laying the conceptual groundwork, this paper presents the preparation and implementation of the project. In addition, it summarizes the tests that native speakers conducted with the chatbot. A critical discussion elaborates advantages and disadvantages. @llegra could be a new tool for teaching and learning Vallader in a memorable and entertaining way through dialog. It not only masters the idiom, but also has extensive knowledge about the Lower Engadine, that is, the area where Vallader is spoken. In conclusion, it is argued that conversational agents are an innovative approach to promoting and preserving languages.

Keywords: Chatbot, Language Model, GPT, Vallader

Bendel, Oliver; Jabou, Dalil. @llegra: a chatbot for Vallader. In: International Journal of Information Technology, 19. Februar 2024. Via https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41870-024-01779-0.

Pepper as a Learning Partner in a Children’s Hospital

Social robots are increasingly used in learning settings. So far, the main focus of this has been in school lessons and teaching at universities. Another possible setting is the children’s hospital. There, for example, young patients need to acquire basic knowledge about their disease so that they can deal with it appropriately. This should be done in a joyful, fun way, as the situation is stressful enough in itself, and so learning is also facilitated. The paper presents a learning application for diabetic children that runs on Pepper. This social robot was particularly well suited for this task because it has a large integrated touchscreen, similar to a tablet. A learning game is displayed on it that was developed especially for this setting. The children have to estimate the carbohydrate values of foods and meals or answer knowledge questions. The social robot gives verbal and gestural feedback in each case. The subjects responded overwhelmingly positively to the learning application. Pepper’s visible and audible feedback plays a special role in this. Social robots like Pepper are an interesting solution for knowledge transfer in a children’s hospital.

Keywords: Social Robots, Learning Application, Healthcare

Zarubica, Sara; Bendel, Oliver. Pepper as a Learning Partner in a Children’s Hospital. In: Al Ali, Abdulaziz; Cabibihan, John-John; Meskin, Nader; Rossi, Silvia; Jiang, Wanyue; He, Hongsheng; Ge, Shuzhi Sam (Hrsg.). Social Robotics: 15th International Conference, ICSR 2023, Part II, Doha, Qatar, December 3–7, 2023, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer International Publishing, Cham 2024. pp. 15 – 26.

Alpha Mini as a Learning Partner in the Classroom

Social robots such as NAO and Pepper are being used in some schools and universities. NAO is very agile and therefore entertaining. Pepper has the advantage that it has an integrated display where learning software of all kinds can be executed. One disadvantage of both is their high price. Schools can hardly afford such robots. This problem was the starting point for the project described here, which took place in 2023 at the School of Business FHNW. The aim was to create a learning application with an inexpensive social robot that has the same motor capabilities as NAO and the same knowledge transfer capabilities as Pepper. The small Alpha Mini from Ubtech was chosen. It was possible to connect it to an external device. This runs a learning game suitable for teaching at primary level. Alpha Mini provides explanations and feedback in each case. Three teachers tested the learning application, raised objections, and made suggestions for improvement. Social robots like Alpha Mini are an interesting solution for knowledge transfer in schools when they can communicate with other devices.

Keywords: Social Robots, Learning Application, Classroom

Bendel, Oliver; Allemann, Andrin. Alpha Mini as a Learning Partner in the Classroom. In: Al Ali, Abdulaziz; Cabibihan, John-John; Meskin, Nader; Rossi, Silvia; Jiang, Wanyue; He, Hongsheng; Ge, Shuzhi Sam (Hrsg.). Social Robotics: 15th International Conference, ICSR 2023, Part I, Doha, Qatar, December 3–7, 2023, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer International Publishing, Cham 2024. pp. 396 – 409.

@ve: A Chatbot for Latin

Dead, extinct, and endangered languages have been preserved primarily through audio conservation and the collection and digitization of scripts and have been promoted through targeted language acquisition efforts. Another possibility would be to build conversational agents that can master these languages. This would provide an artificial, active conversational partner which has knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar, and one learns with it in a different way. The chatbot @ve, with which one can communicate in Latin, was developed in 2022/2023 based on GPT-3.0. It was additionally equipped with a manually created knowledge base. After conceptual groundwork, this paper presents the preparation and implementation of the project. In addition, it summarizes the test that a Latin expert conducted with the chatbot. A critical discussion elaborates advantages and disadvantages. @ve could be a new tool for teaching Latin in a memorable and entertaining way through dialogue. However, the present implementation is still too prone to glitches for stand-alone use – i.e., without the accompaniment of a teacher. The use of GPT-4 could be a solution as well as the extension of the knowledge base. In conclusion, it can be argued that conversational agents are an innovative approach to promoting and preserving languages.

Keywords: Chatbot, GPT, Latin

Bendel, Oliver; Karim N’diaye. @ve: A Chatbot for Latin. Working Paper. In: ArXiv, 22. November 2023. Cornell University, Ithaca 2023. Via https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.14741.

Image Synthesis from an Ethical Perspective

Generative AI has gained a lot of attention in society, business, and science. This trend has increased since 2018, and the big breakthrough came in 2022. In particular, AI-based text and image generators are now widely used. This raises a variety of ethical issues. The present paper first gives an introduction to generative AI and then to applied ethics in this context. Three specific image generators are presented: DALL-E 2, Stable Diffusion, and Midjourney. The author goes into technical details and basic principles, and compares their similarities and differences. This is followed by an ethical discussion. The paper addresses not only risks, but opportunities for generative AI. A summary with an outlook rounds off the article.

Keywords: Image Synthesis, Image Generators, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Information Ethics, Machine Ethics

Bendel, Oliver. Image Synthesis from an Ethical Perspective. In: AI & SOCIETY, 27 September 2023. Via https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00146-023-01780-4.

Increasing Well-being and Health through Robotic Hugs

This paper addresses the question of how to increase the acceptability of a robot hug and whether such a hug contributes to well-being and health. It combines the lead author’s own research with pioneering research by Alexis E. Block and Katherine J. Kuchenbecker. First, the basics of this area are laid out with particular attention to the work of the two scientists. The authors then present HUGGIE Project I, which largely consisted of an online survey with nearly 300 participants, followed by HUGGIE Project II, which involved building a hugging robot and testing it on 136 people. At the end, the results are linked to current research by Block and Kuchenbecker, who have equipped their hugging robot with artificial intelligence to better respond to the needs of subjects.

Keywords: Social Robots, Hugging Robots, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Well-being

Bendel, Oliver; Puljic, Andrea; Heiz, Robin; Tömen, Furkan; De Paola, Ivan. Increasing Well-being and Health through Robotic Hugs. In: Proceedings of the AAAI 2023 Spring Symposium „Socially Responsible AI for Well-being“. Hyatt Regency SFO Airport, California, USA, March 27–29, 2023. Via https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3527/.

How Can Bar Robots Enhance the Well-being of Guests?

This paper addresses the question of how bar robots can contribute to the well-being of guests. It first develops the basics of service robots and social robots. It gives a brief overview of which gastronomy robots are on the market. It then presents examples of bar robots and describes two models used in Switzerland. A research project at the School of Business FHNW collected empirical data on them, which is used for this article. The authors then discuss how the robots could be improved to increase the well-being of customers and guests and better address their individual wishes and requirements. Artificial intelligence can play an important role in this. Finally, ethical and social problems in the use of bar robots are discussed and possible solutions are suggested to counter these.

Keywords: Social Robots, Service Robots, Bar Robots, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning

Bendel, Oliver, Lea Peier. How Can Bar Robots Enhance the Well-being of Guests? In: Proceedings of the AAAI 2023 Spring Symposium „Socially Responsible AI for Well-being“. Hyatt Regency SFO Airport, California, USA, March 27–29, 2023. Via https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3527/.

A Face Recognition System for Bears: Protection for Animals and Humans in the Alps

Face recognition, in the sense of identifying people, is controversial from a legal, social, and ethical perspective. In particular, opposition has been expressed to its use in public spaces for mass surveillance purposes. Face recognition in animals, by contrast, seems to be uncontroversial from a social and ethical point of view and could even have potential for animal welfare and protection. This paper explores how face recognition for bears (understood here as brown bears) in the Alps could be implemented within a system that would help animals as well as humans. It sets out the advantages and disadvantages of wildlife cameras, ground robots, and camera drones that would be linked to artificial intelligence. Based on this, the authors make a proposal for deployment. They favour a three-stage plan that first deploys fixed cameras and then incorporates camera drones and ground robots. These are all connected to a control centre that assesses images and developments and intervenes as needed. The paper then discusses social and ethical, technical and scientific, and economic and structural perspectives. In conclusion, it considers what could happen in the future in this context.

Keywords: Face Recognition, Animal-Computer Interaction, Animal-Machine Interaction

Bendel, Oliver; Yürekkirmaz, Ali. A Face Recognition System for Bears: Protection for Animals and Humans in the Alps. In: Ninth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI’22), December 05–08, 2022, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom. ACM, New York 2023. Via https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3565995.3566030.

The CARE-MOMO Project

In the CARE-MOMO project, a morality module (MOMO) with a morality menu (MOME) was developed at the School of Business FHNW in the context of machine ethics. This makes it possible to transfer one’s own moral and social convictions to a machine, in this case the care robot with the name Lio. The current model has extensive capabilities, including motor, sensory, and linguistic. However, it cannot yet be personalized in the moral and social sense. The CARE-MOMO aims to eliminate this state of affairs and to give care recipients the possibility to adapt the robot’s “behaviour” to their ideas and requirements. This is done in a very simple way, using sliders to activate and deactivate functions. There are three different categories that appear with the sliders. The CARE-MOMO was realized as a prototype, which demonstrates the functionality and aids the company in making concrete decisions for the product. In other words, it can adopt the morality module in whole or in part and further improve it after testing it in facilities.

Keywords: Care Robots, Morality Menu, Healthcare

Bendel, Oliver; Heimann, Marc. The CARE-MOMO Project. In: He, Hongsheng; Cavallo, Filippo;  Sorrentino, Alessandra; Fiorini, Laura; Rovini, Erika (Hrsg.). Social Robotics: 14th International Conference, ICSR 2022, Florence, Italy, December 13–16, 2022, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer International Publishing, Cham 2023.

Tamagotchi on Our Couch: Are Social Robots Perceived as Pets?

Although social robots increasingly enter our lives, it is not clear how they are perceived. Previous research indicates that there is a tendency to anthropomorphize social robots, at least in the Western culture. One of the most promising roles of robots in our society is companionship. Pets also fulfill this role, which gives their owners health and wellbeing benefits. In our study, we investigated if social robots can implicitly and explicitly be perceived as pets. In an online experiment, we measured implicit associations between pets and robots using pictures of robots and devices, as well as attributes denoting pet and non-pet features, in a Go/No-Go Association Task (GNAT). Further, we asked our participants to explicitly evaluate to what extent they perceive robots as pets and if robots could replace a real pet. Our findings show that implicitly, but not explicitly, social robots are perceived as pets.

Keywords: Social Robots, Companion Robots, Pets

Kühne, Katharina; Jeglinski-Mende, Melinda A.; Bendel, Oliver. Tamagotchi on our couch: Are social robots perceived as pets? In: Hakli, Raul; Mäkelä, Pekka; Seibt, Johanna; Nørskov, Marco (Hrsg.). Social Robots in Social Institutions: Proceedings of Robophilosophy 2022. IOS Press, Amsterdam 2022. pp. 755 – 759. Via https://www.iospress.com/catalog/books/social-robots-in-social-institutions.

Robots in Policing

This article is devoted to the question of how robots are used in policing and what opportunities and risks arise in social terms. It begins by briefly explaining the characteristics of modern police work. It puts service robots and social robots in relation to each other and outlines relevant disciplines. The article also lists types of robots that are and could be relevant in the present context. It then gives examples from different countries of the use of robots in police work and security services. From these, it derives the central tasks of robots in this area and their most important technical features. A discussion from social, ethical, and technical perspectives seeks to provide clarity on how robots are changing the police as a social institution and with social actions and relationships, and what challenges need to be addressed.

Keywords: Policing, Robots, Social Robots, Police Robots

Bendel, Oliver. Robots in Policing. In: Hakli, Raul; Mäkelä, Pekka; Seibt, Johanna; Nørskov, Marco (Eds.). Social Robots in Social Institutions: Proceedings of Robophilosophy 2022. IOS Press, Amsterdam 2023. pp. 135 – 144. Via https://www.iospress.com/catalog/books/social-robots-in-social-institutions.

Should Social Robots in Retail Manipulate Customers?

Against the backdrop of structural changes in the retail trade, social robots have found their way into retail stores and shopping malls in order to attract, welcome, and greet customers; to inform them, advise them, and persuade them to make a purchase. Salespeople often have a broad knowledge of their product and rely on offering competent and honest advice, whether it be on shoes, clothing, or kitchen appliances. However, some frequently use sales tricks to secure purchases. The question arises of how consulting and sales robots should “behave”. Should they behave like human advisors and salespeople, i.e., occasionally manipulate customers? Or should they be more honest and reliable than us? This article tries to answer these questions. After explaining the basics, it evaluates a study in this context and gives recommendations for companies that want to use consulting and sales robots. Ultimately, fair, honest, and trustworthy robots in retail are a win-win situation for all concerned.

Keywords: Social Robot, Service Robot, Artificial Intelligence, Retail, Manipulation, Fairness

Bendel, Oliver; Alves, Liliana. Should Social Robots in Retail Manipulate Customers? Proceedings of the AAAI 2022 Spring Symposium „How Fair is Fair? Achieving Wellbeing AI“. Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA, March 21–23, 2022. Via https://arxiv.org/abs/2206.14571.

The SPACE THEA Project

In some situations, no professional human contact can be available. Accordingly, one remains alone with one’s problems and fears. A manned Mars flight is certainly such a situation. A voice assistant that shows empathy and assists the astronauts could be a solution. In the SPACE THEA project, a prototype with such capabilities was developed using Google Assistant and Dialogflow Essentials. The voice assistant has a personality based on characteristics such as functional intelligence, sincerity, creativity, and emotional intelligence. It proves itself in seven different scenarios designed to represent the daily lives of astronauts, addressing operational crises and human problems. The paper describes the seven scenarios in detail, and lists technical and conceptual foundations of the voice assistant. Finally, the most important results are stated and the chapters are summarized.

Keywords: Voice Assistant, Mars Flight, Artificial Intelligence, Wellbeing

Spathelf, Martin; Bendel, Oliver. The SPACE THEA Project. Proceedings of the AAAI 2022 Spring Symposium „How Fair is Fair? Achieving Wellbeing AI“. Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA, March 21–23, 2022. Via https://arxiv.org/abs/2206.10390.

Chips, Devices, and Machines within Humans: Bodyhacking as Movement, Enhancement, and Adaptation

This contribution about bodyhacking as movement, enhancement and adaptation has three purposes. First, it aims to clarify terms in this field or to draw attention to the fact that they are used differently. Second, it wants to shed light on and explore a phenomenon that has a history but is also making history at the moment. Third, it wants to bring possible fields of application into play which remain unexplored, or which lie in the future. Literature analysis and own considerations and conclusions are used. The article first defines and distinguishes „biohacking“, „bodyhacking“, „human enhancement“, „animal enhancement“, „cyborg“, and „transhumanism“. It then addresses selected examples of bodyhacking. The author lists typical and known applications, ordered by their different objectives. He discusses actual and potential developments, for example as a response to potential crises and disasters (including pandemics) and in the context of satellites and foreign planets. On this basis, a brief philosophical discourse takes place leading to a summary and outlook. It turns out that bodyhacking brings opportunities with it, especially for the self-determined person, who takes his or her own body as a starting point and deals responsibly with the potentials. In this way, it can break with outdated conventions and create a new view of the body and its relationship with the environment. Moreover, it promises solutions to present and future problems. Of course, it also harbours moral and health risks.

Keywords: Biohacking, Bodyhacking, Human Enhancement, Animal Enhancement, Cyborg, Transhumanism

Bendel, Oliver. Chips, Devices, and Machines within Humans: Bodyhacking as Movement, Enhancement and Adaptation. In: Brommer, Sarah; Dürscheid, Christa (Ed.). Mensch. Maschine. Kommunikation. Beiträge zur Medienlinguistik. Narr Francke Attempto, Tübingen 2021. pp. 257 – 280. Via https://elibrary.narr.digital/book/10.24053/9783823394716.

The HAPPY HEDGEHOG Project

Semi-autonomous machines, autonomous machines and robots inhabit closed, semi-closed and open environments, more structured environments like the household or more unstructured environments like cultural landscapes or the wilderness. There they encounter domestic animals, farm animals, working animals, and wild animals. These creatures could be disturbed, displaced, injured, or killed by the machines. Within the context of machine ethics and social robotics, the School of Business FHNW developed several design studies and prototypes for animal-friendly machines, which can be understood as moral and social machines in the spirit of these disciplines. In 2019-20, a team led by the main author developed a prototype robot lawnmower that can recognize hedgehogs, interrupt its work for them and thus protect them. Every year many of these animals die worldwide because of traditional service robots. HAPPY HEDGEHOG (HHH), as the invention is called, could be a solution to this problem. This article begins by providing an introduction to the background. Then it focuses on navigation (where the machine comes across certain objects that need to be recognized) and thermal and image recognition (with the help of machine learning) of the machine. It also presents obvious weaknesses and possible improvements. The results could be relevant for an industry that wants to market their products as animal-friendly machines.

Keywords: Animal-friendly machines, Machine Ethics, Animal Ethics, Machine Learning

Bendel, Oliver; Graf, Emanuel; Bollier, Kevin. The HAPPY HEDGEHOG Project. Proceedings of the AAAI 2021 Spring Symposium „Machine Learning for Mobile Robot Navigation in the Wild“. Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA (online), March 22–24, 2021. Via https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SvaRAI71wthGe-B9uSAYvL5WOzLI2mul/view.

The Morality Menu Project

The discipline of machine ethics examines, designs and produces moral machines. The artificial morality is usually pre-programmed by a manufacturer or developer. However, another approach is the more flexible morality menu (MOME). With this, owners or users replicate their own moral preferences onto a machine. A team at the FHNW implemented a MOME for MOBO (a chatbot) in 2019/2020. In this article, the author introduces the idea of the MOME, presents the MOBO-MOME project and discusses advantages and disadvantages of such an approach. It turns out that a morality menu could be a valuable extension for certain moral machines.

Keywords: Machine Ethics, Moral Machines, Machine Morality, Chatbot

Bendel, Oliver. The Morality Menu Project. In: Nørskov, Marco; Seibt, Johanna; Quick, Oliver Santiago (eds.). Culturally Sustainable Social Robotics – Challenges, Methods and Solutions: Proceedings of Robophilosophy 2020. IOS Press, Amsterdam 2021. pp. 257 – 268. Available as PDF.

Love Dolls and Sex Robots in Unproven and Unexplored Fields of Application

Love dolls, the successors of blow-up dolls, are widespread. They can be ordered online or bought in sex shops and can be found in brothels and households. Sex robots are also on the rise. Research, however, has been slow to address this topic thoroughly. Often, it does not differentiate between users and areas of application, remaining vague, especially in the humanities and social sciences. The present contribution deals with the idea and history of love dolls and sex robots. Against this background, it identifies areas of application that have not been investigated or have hardly been investigated at all. These include prisons, the military, monasteries and seminaries, science, art and design as well as the gamer scene. There is, at least, some relevant research about the application of these artefacts in nursing and retirement homes and as such, these will be given priority. The use of love dolls and sex robots in all these fields is outlined, special features are discussed, and initial ethical, legal and pragmatic considerations are made. It becomes clear that artificial love servants can create added value, but that their use must be carefully considered and prepared. In some cases, their use may even be counterproductive.

Keywords: Love Dolls, Sex Robots, Machine Ethics, Roboethics, Information Ethics, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Human-computer Interaction

Bendel, Oliver. Love Dolls and Sex Robots in Unproven and Unexplored Fields of Application. In: Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics 2021; 12: 1–12. Via https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/pjbr/12/1/article-p1.xml.

Co-Robots as Care Robots

Cooperation and collaboration robots, co-robots or cobots for short, are an integral part of factories. For example, they work closely with the fitters in the automotive sector, and everyone does what they do best. However, the novel robots are not only relevant in production and logistics, but also in the service sector, especially where proximity between them and the users is desired or unavoidable. For decades, individual solutions of a very different kind have been developed in care. Now experts are increasingly relying on co-robots and teaching them the special tasks that are involved in care or therapy. This article presents the advantages, but also the disadvantages of co-robots in care and support, and provides information with regard to human-robot interaction and communication. The article is based on a model that has already been tested in various nursing and retirement homes, namely Lio from F&P Robotics, and uses results from accompanying studies. The authors can show that co-robots are ideal for care and support in many ways. Of course, it is also important to consider a few points in order to guarantee functionality and acceptance.

Keywords: Robot Ethics; Information Ethics; Artificial Intelligence; Robotics; Care Robots; Human-computer Interaction

Bendel, Oliver; Gasser, Alina; Siebenmann, Joel. Co-Robots as Care Robots. Accepted paper of the AAAI 2020 Spring Symposium „Applied AI in Healthcare: Safety, Community, and the Environment“ (Stanford University). In: ArXiv, 10. April 2020. Cornell University, Ithaca 2020. Via https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.04374.

Care Robots with Sexual Assistance Functions

Residents in retirement and nursing homes have sexual needs just like other people. However, the semi-public situation makes it difficult for them to satisfy these existential concerns. In addition, they may not be able to meet a suitable partner or find it difficult to have a relationship for mental or physical reasons. People who live or are cared for at home can also be affected by this problem. Perhaps they can host someone more easily and discreetly than the residents of a health facility, but some elderly and disabled people may be restricted in some ways. This article examines the opportunities and risks that arise with regard to care robots with sexual assistance functions. First of all, it deals with sexual well-being. Then it presents robotic systems ranging from sex robots to care robots. Finally, the focus is on care robots, with the author exploring technical and design issues. A brief ethical discussion completes the article. The result is that care robots with sexual assistance functions could be an enrichment of the everyday life of people in need of care, but that we also have to consider some technical, design and moral aspects.

Keywords: Robot Ethics; Information Ethics; Artificial Intelligence; Robotics; Care Robots; Sex Robots; Human-computer Interaction

Bendel, Oliver. Care Robots with Sexual Assistance Functions. Accepted paper of the AAAI 2020 Spring Symposium „Applied AI in Healthcare: Safety, Community, and the Environment“ (Stanford University). In: ArXiv, 10. April 2020. Cornell University, Ithaca 2020. Via https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.04428.

The BESTBOT Project

The young discipline of machine ethics both studies and creates moral (or immoral) machines. The BESTBOT is a chatbot that recognizes problems and conditions of the user with the help of text analysis and facial recognition and reacts morally to them. It can be seen as a moral machine with some immoral implications. The BESTBOT has two direct predecessor projects, the GOODBOT and the LIEBOT. Both had room for improvement and advancement; thus, the BESTBOT project used their findings as a basis for its development and realization. Text analysis and facial recognition in combination with emotion recognition have proven to be powerful tools for problem identification and are part of the new prototype. The BESTBOT enriches machine ethics as a discipline and can solve problems in practice. At the same time, with new solutions of this kind come new problems, especially with regard to privacy and informational autonomy, which information ethics must deal with.

Keywords: Machine Ethics; Robot Ethics; Information Ethics; Artificial Intelligence; Robotics; Chatbots; Human-computer Interaction

Bendel, Oliver; Studer, David; Richards, Bradley. The BESTBOT Project. In: Bendel, Oliver (Hrsg.). Handbuch Maschinenethik (Springer Reference Geisteswissenschaften). Springer, Wiesbaden 2019.

Hologram Girl

This article deals first of all with the current and future technical possibilities of projecting three-dimensional human shapes into space or into vessels. Then examples for holograms from literature and film are mentioned, from the fictionality of past and present. Furthermore, the reality of the present and the future of holograms is included, i.e. what technicians and scientists all over the world are trying to achieve, in eager efforts to close the enormous gap between the imagined and the actual. A very specific aspect is of interest here, namely the idea that holograms serve us as objects of desire, that they step alongside love dolls and sex robots and support us in some way. Different aspects of fictional and real holograms are analyzed, namely pictoriality, corporeality, motion, size, beauty and speech capacity. There are indications that three-dimensional human shapes could be considered as partners, albeit in a very specific sense. The genuine advantages and disadvantages need to be investigated further, and a theory of holograms in love could be developed.

Keywords: Hologram; Holography; Science Fiction; Sex Robot; Love Doll; Ethics

Bendel, Oliver. Hologram Girl. In: Zue, Yuefang; Fischer, Martin (eds.). AI Love You: Developments on human-robot intimate relationships. Springer, Cham 2019. pp. 149 – 165.

Are Robot Tax, Basic Income or Basic Property Solutions to the Social Problems of Automation?

Automation is advancing relentlessly. Already decades ago, digitization was its partner. In the industry, innovative robots, for example co-robots, are used. Service robots begin to spread in various areas. Systems of artificial intelligence perform tasks of all sorts, even creative activities. The studies on the development of the labor market reach different results. In any case, it can be said that certain jobs will disappear and many people will have to do without their familiar work. It can also be assumed that in many areas less human work has to be performed on behalf (e.g., for customers and employers). As possible solutions to economic and social problems, an unconditional basic income and a robot tax are suggested. This paper presents, discusses and criticizes these approaches in the context of automation and digitization. Moreover, it develops a relatively unknown proposal, unconditional basic property, and presents its potentials as well as its risks.

Keywords: Basic Income; Basic Property; Robot Tax; Ethics

Bendel, Oliver. Are Robot Tax, Basic Income or Basic Property Solutions to the Social Problems of Automation? In: Kido, Takashi; Takadama, Keiki (eds.). Proceedings of the AAAI 2019 Spring Symposium „Interpretable AI for Well-Being: Understanding Cognitive Bias and Social Embeddedness“ (AAAI-IAW 2019). Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA, March 25–27, 2019. Via http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2448/.

The Morality Menu

Machine ethics produces moral and immoral machines. The morality is usually fixed, e.g. by programmed meta-rules and rules. The machine is thus capable of certain actions, not others. However, another approach is the morality menu. With this, the owner or user transfers his or her own morality onto the machine. The machine behaves in the same way as he or she would behave, in detail. The author developed several artifacts of machine ethics at his university from 2013 to 2018. For one of them, he designed a morality menu that has not yet been implemented. Another concept exists for a virtual assistant that can make reservations and orders for its owner more or less independently. In this article, the author introduces the idea of the morality menu in the context of two concrete machines. Then he discusses advantages and disadvantages and presents possibilities for improvement. A morality menu can be a valuable extension for certain moral machines.

Keywords: Machine Ethics; Machine Morality; Moral Machines; Morality Menu

Bendel, Oliver. The Morality Menu. 3 February 2019. Available as PDF. Translation of: Oliver Bendel. Das Moralmenü: Moralische Maschinen mit einer Stellvertretermoral. In: Telepolis, 27 January 2019. Via https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Das-Moralmenue-4285297.html.

The Spy who Loved and Nursed Me: Robots and AI Systems in Healthcare from the Perspective of Information Ethics

Robots in the health sector are important, valuable innovations and supplements. As therapy and nursing robots, they take care of us and come close to us. In addition, other service robots are widespread in nursing and retirement homes and hospitals. With the help of their sensors, all of them are able to recognize us, to examine and classify us, and to evaluate our behavior and appearance. Some of these robots will pass on our personal data to humans and machines. They invade our privacy and challenge the informational autonomy. This is a problem for the institutions and the people that needs to be solved. The paper presents robot types in the health sector, along with their technical possibilities, including their sensors and their artificial intelligence capabilities. Against this background, moral problems are discussed, especially from the perspective of information ethics and with respect to privacy and informational autonomy. One of the results shows that such robots can improve the personal autonomy, but the informational autonomy is endangered in an area where privacy has a special importance. At the end of the article, solutions are proposed from various disciplines and perspectives.

Keywords: Care Robots, Nursing Robots, Healthcare, Ethics, Information Ethics

Bendel, Oliver. The Spy who Loved and Nursed Me: Robots and AI Systems in Healthcare from the Perspective of Information Ethics. In: Telepolis, 17 December 2018. Via http://www.heise.de/tp/features/The-Spy-who-Loved-and-Nursed-Me-4251919.html.

Service Robots from the Perspectives of Information and Machine Ethics

Service robots are becoming ever more pervasive in society-at-large. They are present in our apartments and our streets. They are found in hotels, hospitals, and care homes, in shopping malls, and on company grounds. In doing so, various challenges arise. Service robots consume energy, they take up space in ever more crowded cities, sometimes leading us to collide with them and stumble over them. They monitor us, they communicate with us and retain our secrets on their data drives. In relation to this, they can be hacked, kidnapped and abused. The first section of this article presents different types of service robots – like security, transport, therapy, and care robots – and discusses the moral implications that arise from their existence. Information ethics and machine ethics will form the basis for interrogating these moral implications. The second section discusses the draft for a patient declaration, by which people can determine whether and how they want to be treated and cared for by a robot. However, individual specifications may violate personal interests or the business interests of the hospital or nursing home. The author argues such a patient declaration will be vital in a world ever more impacted by these service robots.

Keywords: Service Robots, Ethics, Information Ethics, Machine Ethics, Moral Machines, Patient Declaration

Bendel, Oliver. Service Robots from the Perspectives of Information and Machine Ethics. In: Coeckelbergh, Mark; Loh, Janina; Funk, Michael; Seibt, Johanna; Nørskov, Marco (eds.). Envisioning Robots in Society – Power, Politics, and Public Space. IOS Press, Amsterdam 2018. pp. 12 – 18. Available as PDF.

Towards Animal-friendly Machines

Semi-autonomous machines, autonomous machines and robots inhabit closed, semi-closed and open environments. There they encounter domestic animals, farm animals, working animals and/or wild animals. These animals could be disturbed, displaced, injured or killed. Within the context of machine ethics, the School of Business FHNW developed several design studies and prototypes for animal-friendly machines, which can be understood as moral machines in the spirit of this discipline. They were each linked with an annotated decision tree containing the ethical assumptions or justifications for interactions with animals. Annotated decision trees are seen as an important basis in developing moral machines. They are not without problems and contradictions, but they do guarantee well-founded, secure actions that are repeated at a certain level. This article documents completed and current projects, compares their relative risks and benefits, and makes proposals for future developments in machine ethics. The findings in this article and proposals for the future hope to systemically promote animal well-being and prevent animal suffering in encounters between machines and animals.

Keywords: Machine Ethics, Roboethics, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Animal Ethics, Animal Welfare, Decision Trees, Annotated Decision Trees

Bendel, Oliver. Towards Animal-friendly Machines. In: Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics, 2018, Volume 9, Issue 1. pp. 204 – 213. Via https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/pjbr/9/1/article-p204.xml.

From GOODBOT to BESTBOT

Machine ethics researches the morality of semiautono-mous and autonomous machines. Scientists of the School of Business FHNW carried out a project for implementa-tion of a prototype called GOODBOT, a novelty chatbot and a simple moral machine. One of its meta rules was it should not lie unless not lying would hurt the user. It was a stand-alone solution, not linked with other systems and not internet- or web-based. In the LIEBOT project, the mentioned meta rule was reversed. This web-based chat-bot, programmed in 2016, could lie systematically. It was an example of a simple immoral machine. A follow-up project in 2018 is going to develop the BESTBOT, con-sidering the restrictions of the GOODBOT and the oppor-tunities of the LIEBOT. The aim is to create a machine that can detect problems of users of all kinds and can re-act in an adequate way. It should have textual, auditory and visual capabilities. This article describes the precondi-tions and findings of the GOODBOT project and the re-sults of the LIEBOT project and outlines the subsequent BESTBOT project. A reflection from the perspective of information ethics is included.

Keywords: Machine Ethics, Ethics, Moral Machines, Artificial Intelligence, Ethics by Design, Chatbot, Face Recognition

Bendel, Oliver. From GOODBOT to BESTBOT. In: The 2018 AAAI Spring Symposium Series. AAAI Press, Palo Alto 2018. pp. 2 – 9. Available as PDF. Full volume here.

The Uncanny Return of Physiognomy

Face recognition is the automated recognition of a face or the automated identification, measuring and description of features of a face. In the 21st century, it is increasingly attempted, whether consciously or unconsciously, to connect to the pseudoscience of physiognomy, which has its origins in ancient times. From the appearance of persons, a conclusion is drawn to their inner self, and attempts are made to identify character traits, personality traits and temperament, or political and sexual orientation. Also biometrics plays a role here. It was founded in the eighteenth century, when physiognomy under the lead of Johann Caspar Lavater had its dubious climax. In this article, the basic principles of this topic are elaborated; selected projects from research and practice are presented and, from an ethical perspective, the possibilities of face recognition are subjected to fundamental critique in this context, including the above examples.

Keywords: Face Recognition, Physiognomy, Artificial Intelligence, Information Ethics

Bendel, Oliver. The Uncanny Return of Physiognomy. In: The 2018 AAAI Spring Symposium Series. AAAI Press, Palo Alto 2018. pp. 10 – 17. Available as PDF. Full volume here.

SSML for Sex Robots

In love and sex, the voice is a decisive factor. It not only matters what is said, but also how it is said. Pitch, volume and personal expression are important to attract and retain potential partners. The same goes for sex robots and love dolls, and is true for chatbots and virtual assistants with sexual orientation as well. If you are not working with ordinary recordings, they all need artificial voices (if you decide to use voices at all). The synthetization of voices, or speech synthesis, has been an object of interest for centuries. Today, it is mostly realized with a text-to-speech system (TTS), an automaton that interprets and reads aloud. This system refers to text which is available for instance in a knowledge base or on a website. Different procedures have been established to adjust the artificial voice. This article examines how the Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) can be used for sex robots and love servants. Existing tags, attributes and values are categorized in the present context and new ones are proposed to support the purpose of the special machines. In addition, a short ethical discussion takes place.

Keywords: Sex Robots, Robot Sex, Artificial Intelligence, Text-to-Speech System, Speech Synthesis Markup Language, Information Ethics, Roboethics

Bendel. Oliver. SSML for Sex Robots. In: Cheok, Adrian David; Levy, David (eds.). Love and Sex with Robots. Third International Conference, LSR 2017, London, UK, December 19-20, 2017, Revised Selected Papers. Springer International Publishing, Cham 2018. pp. 1 – 11.

Co-robots from an Ethical Perspective

Cooperation and collaboration robots work hand in hand with their human colleagues. This contribution focuses on the use of these robots in production. The co-robots (to use this umbrella term) are defined and classified, and application areas, examples of applications and product examples are mentioned. Against this background, a discussion on moral issues follows, both from the perspective of information and technology ethics and business ethics. Central concepts of these fields of applied ethics are referred to and transferred to the areas of application. In moral terms, the use of cooperation and collaboration robots involves both opportunities and risks. Co-robots can support workers and save them from strains and injuries, but can also displace them in certain activities or make them dependent. Machine ethics is included at the margin; it addresses whether and how to improve the decisions and actions of (partially) autonomous systems with respect to morality. Cooperation and collaboration robots are a new and interesting subject for it.

Keywords: Cooperation Robots, Collaboration Robots, Co-Robots, Cobots, Information Ethics, Technology Ethics, Business Ethics, Machine Ethics

Bendel, Oliver. Co-Robots from an Ethical Perspective. In: Dornberger, Rolf (ed.). Information Systems and Technology 4.0: New Trends in the Age of Digital Change. Springer International Publishing, Cham 2018. pp. 275 – 288.

Sex Robots and Robot Sex from an Ethical perspective

Real sex robots, unlike sex toys, have yet to establish themselves. Admittedly, the development of these special service robots is still in its early stages, and we can expect this much-loved object of societal and media debates to become commonplace at some point. Perhaps there’s more robot sex than we’d like to think: this sex doesn’t just have to be with sex robots, but also with service robots that were originally meant to perform other tasks. This article defines central concepts related to this topic, explicitly asking questions regarding the possibility of robot sex without sex robots. There is an introduction to machine ethics that will examine the possibilities of machine morality. In addition, information ethics and technology ethics will be considered in terms of the light they shed on the design and use of robots for sexual activity. There will then be a conclusion and discussion of future prospects.

Keywords: Machine Ethics, Sexual Ethics, Ethics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Sex Robots, Robots Sex, Love Dolls

Bendel. Oliver. Sex Robots and Robot Sex from an Ethical perspective. In: Otto, Philipp; Gräf, Eike. 3TH1CS: A Reinvention of Ethics in the Digital Age? iRIGHTS media, Berlin 2017. pp. 30 – 42.

The Synthetization of Human Voices

The synthetization of voices, or speech synthesis, has been an object of interest for centuries. It is mostly realized with a text-to-speech system (TTS), an automaton that interprets and reads aloud. This system refers to text available for instance on a website or in a book, or entered via popup menu on the website, and reads it aloud. Today, just a few minutes of samples are enough in order to be able to imitate a speaker convincingly in all kinds of statements. This article abstracts from actual products and actual technological realization. Rather, after a short historical outline of the synthetization of voices, exemplary applications of this kind of technology are gathered for promoting the development, and potential applications are discussed critically in order to be able to limit them if necessary. The ethical and legal challenges should not be underestimated, in particular with regard to informational and personal autonomy and the trustworthiness of media.

Keywords: Speech Synthesis, Text-to-speech System, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Information Ethics, Machine Ethics

Bendel, Oliver. The Synthetization of Human Voices. In: AI & SOCIETY, July 26, 2017. („online first“ article on SpringerLink). Via http://rdcu.be/uvxm.

LADYBIRD: the Animal-Friendly Robot Vacuum Cleaner

More and more autonomous and semi-autonomous machines make decisions that have moral implications. Machine ethics as a discipline examines the possibilities and limits of moral machines. In this context, the author developed various design studies and thus submitted proposals for their appearance and functions. He focused on animal-friendly machines which make morally sound decisions, and chatbots with specific skills. For the design of moral machines decision trees are still little used. This article focuses on a service robot which shall spare beneficial insects – a vacuum cleaner called LADYBIRD – and an annotated decision tree modelled for this objective will be presented. The outlined work leads to a practice project that was proposed in spring 2017 at the School of Business FHNW.

Keywords: Machine Ethics, Robot Ethics, Ethics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Ethics by Design, Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Bendel, Oliver. LADYBIRD: the Animal-Friendly Robot Vacuum Cleaner. In: The 2017 AAAI Spring Symposium Series. AAAI Press, Palo Alto 2017. Available as PDF.

Towards Kant Machines

For some years now, ethics no longer only means human ethics. The young discipline of machine ethics researches the morality of semi-autonomous and autonomous systems like self-driving cars, robots and drones. Interactive software systems such as chatbots are also relevant. In 2013, the School of Business at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) implemented a prototype of the GOODBOT, which is a novelty chatbot and a simple moral machine. One of its meta-rules was that it should not lie unless not lying would hurt the user. In a follow-up project in 2016, the LIEBOT was developed, a kind of Munchausen machine. This article describes the back-ground and the foundations of this project and lists the chatbot’s strategies of lying. Then it discusses how Munchausen machines as immoral machines can contribute to the construction and optimization of moral machines, for example Kant machines, which prefer the truth. The LIEBOT serves as a contribution to machine ethics as well as a critical review of electronic language-based systems and services.

Keywords: Machine Ethics, Ethics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Ethics by Design, Chatbot, Munchausen Machines

Bendel, Oliver; Schwegler, Kevin; Richards, Bradley. Towards Kant Machines. In: The 2017 AAAI Spring Symposium Series. AAAI Press, Palo Alto 2017. Available as PDF.

Sex Robots from the Perspective of Machine Ethics

This contribution explains firstly the terms and the phenomena of sex robots and robot sex and the foundations of machine ethics. Secondly it poses questions related to sex robots as moral agents, from a general and a specific perspective, aiming at assisting manufacturers and developers. By using the questions, the opportunities and risks can be discussed in a structured manner. Thirdly, the fields of applied ethics are included to work out the implications for humans as moral patients. At the end, the author summarizes the findings. Machine ethics, from his point of view, may help to construct sex robots and service robots with special capabilities which are moral machines in their appearance and in their behaviour and which may allow some people to complement their sexual activities and to lead a fulfilling life. The fields of applied ethics may be beneficial with respect to the adequate use of sex robots.

Keywords: Machine Ethics, Sexual Ethics, Ethics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Sex Robots, Robots Sex, Love Dolls

Bendel, Oliver. Sex Robots from the Perspective of Machine Ethics. In: Cheok, Adrian David; Devlin, Kate; Levy, David (eds.). Love and Sex with Robots. Second International Conference, LSR 2016, London, UK, December 19-20, 2016, Revised Selected Papers. Springer International Publishing, Cham 2017. pp. 1 – 10.

Annotated Decision Trees for Simple Moral Machines

Autonomization often follows after the automization on which it is based. More and more machines have to make decisions with moral implications. Machine ethics, which can be seen as an equivalent of human ethics, analyses the chances and limits of moral machines. So far, decision trees have not been commonly used for modelling moral machines. This article proposes an approach for creating annotated decision trees, and specifies their central components. The focus is on simple moral machines. The chances of such models are illustrated with the example of a self-driving car that is friendly to humans and animals. Finally the advantages and disadvantages are discussed and conclusions are drawn.

Keywords: Machine Ethics, Robot Ethics, Ethics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Ethics by Design, Autonomous Car, Self-driving Car

Bendel, Oliver. Annotated Decision Trees for Simple Moral Machines. In: The 2016 AAAI Spring Symposium Series. AAAI Press, Palo Alto 2016. pp. 195 – 201.

Considerations about the relationship between animal and machine ethics

Ethics researches morality in respect to humans and animals. Usually it implies human morality, therefore the focus is on human-human relationships (generally in ethics) and human-animal relationships (in animal ethics). Ethics can also deal with the morality of machines such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), robots and agents or of self-driving cars and computers in automated trading, in other words more or less autonomous systems and programs. Machine ethics almost exclusively concentrates on machine-human relationships rather than on machine-animal relationships. Before this background, this article contributes some basic considerations about the relationship between animal and machine ethics.

Keywords: Machine Ethics, Robot Ethics, Animal Ethics, Ethics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Ethics by Design

Bendel, Oliver. Considerations about the relationship between animal and machine ethics. In: AI & SOCIETY, 31 (1), 2016. pp. 103 – 108. (December 2013 as „online first“ article on SpringerLink)

Robots between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

This article presents classic dilemmas and transfers them to the information age with special focus on the problem-ridden use of chatbots, robots, drones and self-driving cars. Solution concepts are developed from the perspective of machine ethics among others. It turns out that classic dilemmas are useful for mastering today’s challenges and helpful for discussing the decision-making options of partly or fully autonomous systems and for sensitizing robotics, artificial intelligence and computer science to such matters in order to optimize their results and products.

Keywords: Machine Ethics, Robot Ethics, Ethics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Ethics by Design, Dilemma

Bendel, Oliver. Robots between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. In: Liinc em Revista, 2 (2015) 11. pp. 410 – 417. Via https://revista.ibict.br/liinc/article/view/3662.

Reflections on the Development and the Design of Medical and Care Robots

There is a fundamental transformation in the field of health care: operation robots, therapy robots, care robots and sex robots, which can be characterized as medical and care robots (MCR), become more and more indispensable. Surgical robots are similar to industrial robots. Therapy, care and sex robots, however, often have a body and a locomotor system, and frequently resemble animals or human beings. Consequently, some of them can not only perform actions, but have a certain appearance, they can understand the human language and even write or talk, respectively utter sounds. Accordingly, the morality of these machines consists in their actions, in their appearance (including gestures and facial expression), and in their (natural) language skills. This contribution is committed to the findings of machine ethics and raises some thoughts for the development and design of moral MCR, with a focus on actions and appearance, as well as on the (natural) language skills. Using the literature and own research and considerations, appropriate meta-rules are being established, and central problem areas are identified without making concrete technical and design specifications. The problem descriptions allow robotics experts, computer scientists and designers to take into account social and moral aspects and to improve the MCR from an ethical perspective.

Keywords: Machine Ethics, Robot Ethics, Medical Ethics, Ethics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Ethics by Design, Care Robot

Bendel, Oliver. Reflections on the Development and the Design of Medical and Care Robots. In: gbs-schweiz.org, March 5, 2015. Via http://gbs-schweiz.org/blog/development-design-medical-care-robots/.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and Animals

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are widely used. Some support and inform the driver. Others relieve him or her of certain tasks – and transform the human-guided system into a semi-autonomous one. For some years also fully autonomous systems have been on the roads, so-called self-driving cars, as prototypes of companies and within research projects. From the perspective of ethics – both of the special fields of ethics like animal ethics, information ethics and technology ethics and of machine ethics which can be understood as a counterpart to human ethics –, advanced driver assistance systems raise various questions. The aim of this paper is to derive suggestions from animal ethics and other disciplines for the improvement and development of the systems. The basis are literature analysis and own classifications and considerations. The result is that there are many possibilities to expand existing systems and to develop new functions in the context with the aim to reduce the number of animal victims.

Keywords: Machine Ethics, Robot Ethics, Animal Ethics, Ethics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Ethics by Design, Autonomous Car, Self-Driving Car, Advanced Driver Assistance System

Bendel, Oliver. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and Animals. In: Künstliche Intelligenz, October 9, 2014 („online first“ article on SpringerLink).

Towards Machine Ethics

In this paper, the field of machine ethics is explored. Firstly, the concept and the classification of machine ethics are clarified. Secondly, the main topics of machine ethics are described; a distinction is made between different kinds of systems and situations in which they act. Thirdly, three classical normative models are described and estimated relating to their suitability for machine processing. It was found that all of these models can be used in machine ethics and be combined with the case-based and observation-based approach.

Keywords: Machine Ethics, Robot Ethics, Animal Ethics, Ethics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Ethics by Design, Autonomous Car, Self-Driving Car, Advanced Driver Assistance System

Bendel, Oliver. Towards Machine Ethics. In: Michalek, Tomáš; Hebáková, Lenka; Hennen, Leonhard et al. (eds.). Technology Assessment and Policy Areas of Great Transitions. 1st PACITA Project Conference, March 13 – 15, 2013. Prague 2014. pp. 321 – 326.