Andrew McAfee: What will future jobs look like? Robot Morality: Can a Machine Have a Conscience. Robot Morality: Can a Machine Have a Conscience? By Brian Green As part of the Markkula Center's yearlong series of talks on conscience, George Lucas of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, formerly of the US Naval Academy, and previously a professor of philosophy at Santa Clara University, came to campus to discuss the ethics of giving autonomous military robots the authority to kill. Here is a brief summary of what he said. Lucas answered the title question of the talk "Can a machine have a conscience?
" with a definite "no. " But Lucas then asked what he thinks is a much better question: "Can a robot be designed so as to comply with the laws of war and the demands of morality? " To this more nuanced question Lucas answered "maybe. " Beginning with a discussion of the current use of military drones, which are piloted by humans and can only fire by human authorization, Lucas moved on to what he thought would be more likely scenarios for autonomous robots. October 2013. Ethics. Patients Scarred After Robotic Surgery. Intuitive Surgical, which makes the da Vinci, declined to discuss their cases because of pending litigation. Most robotic procedures take place without a hitch, but there are a growing number of complaints and lawsuits that allege complications and even deaths from the da Vinci surgery.
"The robot has a place in surgery," said Dr. Francois Blaudeau, a lawyer and practicing Alabama gynecologist who is serving as the lead plaintiffs' attorney on a slew of cases focused on da Vinci-related injuries. CNBC.com's Da Vinci Debate series:Part 1: Controversy Over Surgical Robotics Heats Up Part 2: Patients Scarred After Robotic Surgery Part 3: Counting the Problems of Robot-Assisted Surgery Part 4: Marketing Is Key to Surgical Robot's Success According to lawsuits, complaints, interviews with alleged victims, plaintiff attorneys and an FDA database, many of the reported injuries during robotic surgery appear to be burns and other heat-related damage to intestines, ureter, bowels and other organs.
How Should the Law Think About Robots? by Neil M. Richards, William Smart. The robots are coming. We don’t mean this in a scary, apocalyptic way, like in The Terminator or Battlestar Galactica, or in a tongue-in-cheek way, like in the Flight of the Conchords song “The Humans are Dead.” What we mean is this: Robots and robotic technologies are now mature enough to leave the research lab and come to the consumer market in large numbers. These early technologies are just the start, and we might soon be witnessing a personal robotics revolution. These systems have the potential to revolutionize our daily lives and to transform our world in ways even more profound than broad access to the Internet and mobile phones have done over the past two decades. We need to be ready for them and, in particular, we need to think about them in the right way so that the lawmakers can craft better rules for them, and engineers can design them in ways that protect the values our society holds dear.
But how should we do this? "Sue My Car Not Me: Products Liability and Accidents Involving Autonomo" by Jeffrey K. Gurney. Jeffrey K. Gurney, University of South Carolina - Columbia Abstract Autonomous vehicles will revolutionize society within the decade. These cars will cause accidents. Based on those scenarios, this Article argues that the autonomous technology manufacturer should be liable for accidents while the vehicle is in autonomous mode. Suggested Citation Jeffrey K. Terminator-like killer robots worry UN. Last updated 08:41 31/05/2013 BAE, one of the world's biggest arms firms, unveils the Taranis, a prototype killer robot. Should robots be allowed to take a human life, without direct supervision or command? Science fiction met reality at the United Nations in Geneva overnight, where this question was debated at a meeting of the Human Rights Council.
UN special rapporteur Christof Heyns told the council that countries are developing armed robots that can kill without the need for human choice or intervention, and they need to call a halt before it's too late. "The possible introduction of LARs (lethal autonomous robots) raises far-reaching concerns about the protection of life during war and peace," Heyns said. "If this is done, machines and not humans, will take the decision on who is alive or dies. " Heyns presented a report on his research and called for a worldwide moratorium on the production and deployment of such machines, while nations figured out the knotty legal and ethical issues. Synthetic Police Are Coming: DARPA Engineering Autonomous Robots. Susanne Posel Occupy Corporatism August 17, 2012 Because of the risks involved in rescue aid workers and human response teams, DARPA awarded Boston Dynamics, Inc.
A $10.9 million contract to manufacture humanoid robots that are bi-pedal, built like humans and have a sensor head with on-board computing capabilities. Completion of the project is expected for August of 2014. These robots are being created to assist in excavation and rescue missions, according to DARPA . They could also be employed to evacuation operations during either man-made or natural disasters. Kent Massey, director of advanced programs for HDT Robotics , who attended the DARPA meeting in which the purpose of the allocation of humanoid robotic technology was explained, said: “The goal of this Grand Challenge is to create a humanoid robot that can operate in an environment built for people and use tools made for people. The specific challenge is built around an industrial disaster response.” PW Singer on military robots and the future of war. Daniel Suarez: The kill decision shouldn't belong to a robot.