Robot and Society

Introduction

Robots and Society takes a critical look at the design, development, production, and implementation of robots and AI in society. In the course, we will be examining many case studies as concrete applications of robotics and AI in society, e.g. healthcare robots, synthetic media in entertainment, decision-support systems in policing, human values when robots are concerned, as well as touch on the political and environmental aspects of robotics and AI. The course will provide students with the skills of critical reflection, ethical sensitivity and deliberation about the societal, design, environmental and governance issues at stake concerning these technologies. Thus, the course should prepare students for common problems they will face in their current studies and prepare them for their future careers in the technical or humanities disciplines. The course serves as a first step in uncovering societal issues related to robotics and AI, understanding how and why they are points of concern, and applying conceptual tools to mitigate and/or overcome such issues.

To participate in the course and be able to access the Course manual and all the materials, you simply need to enroll on Brightspace with the course code RO47008.

Detailed content:

Introduction to ethics of technology

• Technology as a sociotechnical system

• Practice-based approach to values

• Technological mediation of morality

• Value change

Introduction to robot ethics

• Ethics of Human-Robot Interaction (e.g. social script, anthropomorphism, gender, inclusivity, etc.)

• Ethics of Robot Applications (e.g. healthcare robots, Digital Voice Assistants, military drones, etc.)

• Ethics of Robot Design and Development (e.g. Design for Values, Value hierarchy, Ethics as an accompaniment model, etc.)

Introduction to ethics of AI

• Cultural and institutional aspects of AI

• Philosophical perspective on bias

• Power and politics of AI

• Ethics of AI in public sectors (e.g. predictive policing, facial recognition, Covid19 tracking apps, etc.)