Robot Ethics by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780262297752
Publisher: The MIT Press
Published: 2012-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

V

Psychology and Sex

The anthropomorphization of robots is an important trend, not merely for the privacy implications noted in chapter 12, but also for increasing public acceptance, even affinity, toward robots. But this betides a new danger of “too much of a good thing”: Can one become emotionally over-invested in robots? Are there potential harms due to emotional and psychic dependence that raise serious moral concerns, either to the human users of robots or to the public at large?

Matthias Scheutz discusses the dangers of emotional bonds with robots in chapter 13; he argues that social robots will differ from industrial or military robots in appearance, environment, programming, mobility, autonomy, and perceived agency. As humans have a tendency to personify and become emotionally dependent on social robots, opportunities will abound for malicious exploitation of such unidirectional emotional bonds by the creators or purveyors of robots. Scheutz recommends regulations to forestall such worries, including the possibility of creating robots with emotions of their own.

David Levy in chapter 14 and Blay Whitby in chapter 15 investigate aspects of one of the most notorious, widely publicized, and most intense types of psychological and emotional experiences humans will have with robots: sex.

Levy’s chapter focuses on the idea that robot prostitutes, or “sexbots,” will soon become widely accepted alternatives to human sex workers, and he takes up five aspects of the ethics of robot prostitution. He considers the ethical issues concerning the general use of robot prostitutes, effects on an individual’s self-respect in using a robot in this way, how such use affects other human intimate relationships (e.g., is it infidelity?), and the impact of robotic prostitutes on human sex workers and (eventually) on the sexbots themselves.

Whitby examines robot lovers within the general context of the ethics of caring technologies. In Japan and South Korea, robots are widely assumed to have a future significant role in elder care and babysitting. But wishful thinking and hype can obscure both what is actually possible, and what should—or should not—be allowed. Whitby notes that Masahiro Mori’s hypothesis of the “Uncanny Valley” poses a difficult technical barrier to creating realistic-looking robot lovers, but robots may soon be able to better human companions’ ability to retain intimate knowledge of one’s own quirks, and respond to (and even anticipate) one’s feelings. He notes people unable to find lovers, or prevented from doing so (e.g., criminals), are obvious markets for robotic companions, but notes a disquieting further possibility: people may seek robots in order to do things to them that would be abhorrent when done to another human. As such, he considers the possibility of love for (or by) a robot, and reflects on Levy’s arguments. He ends with a call for public discussion and the possible development of professional ethics codes to guide the responsible development of robotic companions. Then, in part VI, we focus on the broader notion of robots as caregivers.

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