3/8/07

Robot ethics and other nonsense

Scotty to Kirk: "I canna change the laws of physics captain."

That was then this is now. "And vice versa?":
Researcher gazes at a robot

An ethical code to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa, is being drawn up by South Korea.

The Robot Ethics Charter will cover standards for users and manufacturers and will be released later in 2007.

It is being put together by a five member team of experts that includes futurists and a science fiction writer.

The South Korean government has identified robotics as a key economic driver and is pumping millions of dollars into research.

"The government plans to set ethical guidelines concerning the roles and functions of robots as robots are expected to develop strong intelligence in the near future," the ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said....

Let's get this 100% straight. People are bound to morality and ethics. Machines have no objective morality.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whaddya mean? when robots become complex and intelligent enough, they will attain consciousness. Thus, it will be immoral to mistreat them.

Unknown said...

There is an ethical question, to the extent that the robot is property owned by someone and abusing it is no different from damaging any other item that someone else owns. I can imagine people doing so "because hey, it has no feelings", ignring completely the question of its owner. (This may come from watching people do so even when ownership should be obvious....)

Another possibility that occurs to me is that someone might program such a robot to defend itself against abuse, in which case the law constitutes a legal defense for the owner of the robot if an abuser is hurt by such defensive action.

Anonymous said...

"People are bound to morality and ethics."

Says whom?