Ethical dilemmas surrounding robots
Description
Robots are going to be part of our daily lives, our household, our work. They will be everywhere, wherever we go. We will start to find that very common. Of course, there will be resistance to this. Perhaps at some point a political party will blame robots for everything that is wrong. And since they are right on one point too, it will probably become a political issue. But the robots know nothing about it, so they just carry on doing what they were made for.
We enter into social relationships with robots. Just like we do with humans and animals. We're going to love them, we're going to hate them, we're going to get angry with them, get happy with them. And that too will be an issue. Because what if your son or daughter arrives with the one and only after several fruitless dates and it's a robot? No, that might still be a few bridges too far, but if we simplify it a bit: your five-year-old son's best friend is a robot?
The rise of robots is having a profound impact on the way we look at ourselves. There will be robots that clean better than we do, pay better attention than we do. There are already robots that weld and assemble better than us in certain ways. And hey, there will one day be a robot that plays football better than us. And there will be creative robots, wise robots, loving robots. But who are we then?
It is imperative that we start putting limits on the capabilities of robots. Boundaries based on profound ethical considerations. Of course, limits are there to be pushed. But to do that, we must first set them. And then push them step by step. And some robots we may not need to start using at all. So neither should we make them
Speaker(s)
Dr Marcel Heerink (1961) is senior researcher at the Robotics lectorate of Windesheim Flevoland University of Applied Sciences in Almere and associate professor at LaSalle University in Barcelona/Almere. He conducts research and leads projects in the field of robots in healthcare and studies people's relationships with robots. Most of his projects involve the use of therapeutic robots in healthcare. For example, he leads an international project focusing on the use of robotic animals for elderly people suffering from dementia and participates in (also international) projects on the use of robots for children with various forms of autism and for children undergoing radical medical treatments.
Reference
Heerink, M. (2013) Zolang je robot maar van je houdt - Hoe en waarom onze wereld verandert door de onstuitbare opkomst van de robots Schiedam: publisher Scriptum ISBN 9789055942930. A complete list of publications can be found via the link below
Location
Utrecht
Organiser
Philosophy & Technology
Name and contact details for information
Further information from drs.ing. Henk Uijttenhout (vz), tel: 070 - 3875293 / 06 - 26715554 or via the e-mail address below.