Alle Publikationen
2019
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(2019): On Proactive, Transparent, and Verifiable Ethical Reasoning for Robots. In: Proceedings of the IEEE 107 (3), S. 541-561. DOI: 10.1109/JPROC.2019.2898267
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/JPROC.2019.2898267 Abstract: Previous work on ethical machine reasoning has largely been theoretical, and where such systems have been implemented, it has, in general, been only initial proofs of principle. Here, we address the question of desirable attributes for such systems to improve their real world utility, and how controllers with these attributes might be implemented. We propose that ethically critical machine reasoning should be proactive, transparent, and verifiable. We describe an architecture where the ethical reasoning is handled by a separate layer, augmenting a typical layered control architecture, ethically moderating the robot actions. It makes use of a simulation-based internal model and supports proactive, transparent, and verifiable ethical reasoning. To do so, the reasoning component of the ethical layer uses our Python-based belief-desire-intention (BDI) implementation. The declarative logic structure of BDI facilitates both transparency, through logging of the reasoning cycle, and formal verification methods. To prove the principles of our approach, we use a case study implementation to experimentally demonstrate its operation. Importantly, it is the first such robot controller where the ethical machine reasoning has been formally verified.
Keywords: BDI implementation, belief desire intention implementation, control engineering computing, Design methodology, ethical machine reasoning, ethical reasoning, Ethics, formal verification, ieee xplore, intelligent robots, layered control architecture, learning (artificial intelligence), machine learning, Moral & Ethik, Predictive models, Python, robot controller, robot programming, Robots, safety, simulation-based internal model, Social implications of technology, software architecture, transparency -
(2019): Interactional Moral Systems: A Model of Social Mechanisms for the Moral Regulation of Exchange Processes in Agent Societies. In: IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems 6 (4), S. 778-796. DOI: 10.1109/TCSS.2019.2926950
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TCSS.2019.2926950 Abstract: In this paper, we first introduce the concepts of moral agent and moral system of agent society and, in particular, the central concept of moral agent sensible to moral sanction. Next, we introduce the concepts of moral gain and moral loss in social exchanges and of reputation-based persistence of exchange processes. Following, we elaborate the notion of negotiated moral regulation of reputation-based persistent exchange processes. Finally, we combine those concepts in the notion of a reputation-based mechanism for the negotiation-driven moral regulation of exchange processes of agents that are sensible to moral sanctions.
Keywords: Agent societies, agent society, Avatars, Computational modeling, Ethics, ieee xplore, interactional moral systems, Law, Moral & Ethik, moral agent, moral gain, moral loss, moral regulation of social exchanges, moral sanction, Morality, multi-agent systems, negotiation-driven moral regulation, reputation-based mechanism, reputation-based persistence, reputation-based persistent exchange processes, Robots, social exchanges, social mechanisms, Social Processes -
(2019) : The Dark Side of Human-Robot Interaction: Ethical Considerations and Community Guidelines for the Field of HRI: 2019 14th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI): Daegu, Korea: IEEE, S. 689-690
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/HRI.2019.8673184 Abstract: The HRI community is working to develop interactive robots for a wide variety of pro-social tasks and ideals. As such we naturally focus on the positive side of HRI including how robots and humans may collaborate and the benefits of doing so. This workshop, in contrast, will focus on the dark side of HRI with the goal of identifying, understanding and guarding against the potential negative consequences of interactive robots. The primary objective of the workshop is to articulate and discuss the most pertinent ethical issues facing the HRI community and to develop a set of common community guidelines.
Keywords: common community guidelines, Conferences, Consumer Protection, Data Protection, ethical aspects, ethical considerations, Ethics, GUIDELINES, HRI community, human-robot interaction, Humans, ideals, ieee xplore, interactive robots, Law, Moral & Ethik, Persuasive Robots, pertinent ethical issues, pro-social tasks, PSYCHOLOGY, Robot Ethics, Robot sensing systems, workshop -
(2019) : Cuteness as a ‘Dark Pattern’ in Home Robots: 2019 14th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI): Daegu, Korea: IEEE, S. 374-381
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/HRI.2019.8673274 Abstract: Dark patterns are a recent phenomenon in the field of interaction design, where design patterns and behavioral psychology are deployed in ways that deceive the user. However, the current corpus of dark patterns literature focuses largely on screen-based digital interactions and should be expanded to include home robots. In this paper, we apply the concept of dark patterns to the ‘cute’ aesthetic of home robots and suggest that their design constitutes a dark pattern in HRI by (1) emphasizing short-term gains over long-term decisions; (2) depriving users of some degree of conscious agency at the site of interaction; and (3) creating an affective response in the user for the purpose of collecting emotional data. This exploratory paper expands the current library of dark patterns and their application to new technological interfaces into the domain of home robotics in order to establish the grounds for an ethical design practice in HRI.
Keywords: Affect, dark patterns, data ethics, Data privacy, Design, design patterns, emotion, emotion recognition, ethical aspects, ethical design practice, Ethics, Home computing, home robots, HRI, human-robot interaction, ieee xplore, Interaction, Moral & Ethik, privacy, PSYCHOLOGY, Robot sensing systems, Software, surveillance capitalism, user experience design -
(2019) : Good Robot Design or Machiavellian? An In-the-Wild Robot Leveraging Minimal Knowledge of Passersby’s Culture: 2019 14th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI): Daegu, Korea: IEEE, S. 382-391
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/HRI.2019.8673326 Abstract: Social robots are being designed to use human-like communication techniques, including body language, social signals, and empathy, to work effectively with people. Just as between people, some robots learn about people and adapt to them. In this paper we present one such robot design: we developed Sam, a robot that learns minimal information about a person’s background, and adapts to this background. Our in-the-wild study found that people helped Sam for significantly longer when it adapted to match their background. While initially we saw this as a success, in re-considering our study we started seeing a different angle. Our robot effectively deceived people (changed its story and text), based on some knowledge of their background, to get more work from them. There was little direct benefit to the person from this adaptation, yet the robot stood to gain free labor. We would like to pose the question to the community: is this simply good robot design, or, is our robot being manipulative? Where does the ethical line lay between a robot leveraging social techniques to improve interaction, and the more negative framing of a robot or algorithm taking advantage of people? How can we decide what is good here, and what is less desirable?
Keywords: Body language, Cultural differences, Culture, Ethics, Global communication, human-like communication techniques, human-robot interaction, ieee xplore, in the wild, in-the-wild robot, learning (artificial intelligence), minimal information, Mobile robots, Mood, Moral & Ethik, passersby culture, Persuasive Robots, robot design, Robots, Sam, Shape, social robots, Social signals, social techniques, Task Analysis 2018
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(2018): Ethics for Robots as Experimental Technologies: Pairing Anticipation with Exploration to Evaluate the Social Impact of Robotics. In: IEEE Robotics Automation Magazine 25 (1), S. 30-36. DOI: 10.1109/MRA.2017.2781543
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MRA.2017.2781543 Abstract: The evaluation of the societal impact of autonomous technologies, particularly robotics, has grown in technological contexts (e.g., see [14] and the IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems [20]), as well as broader political contexts (e.g., see the 2017 European Parliament report regarding civil law rules on robotics [21]). In this article, we adopt the perspective that conceptualizes new technologies as social experiments, stressing their experimental character to deal with the inherent uncertainty that affects their behavior. We suggest that the kind of experiments performed when evaluating robots in specific contexts of use are explorative experiments, i.e., investigations carried out in the absence of a proper theory or theoretical background that diverge from the traditional notion of controlled experiments. Considering this epistemological shift, we apply the ethical framework proposed by van de Poel for experimental technologies to the case of robotics, and we discuss its implications on the design of robots. To make our discussion more concrete, we reference the field of robots for search and rescue, which offers a challenging opportunity to test socioethical approaches to the development of robots and their interactions with environments and humans.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence, autonomous robots, autonomous technologies, ethical aspects, Ethics, experimental technologies, ieee xplore, Künstliche Intelligenz, Law, Monitoring, Politics, Robotics, Robots, service robot, social aspects of automation, Social implications of technology, technological contexts -
(2018): Anthropomorphism in human–robot co-evolution. In: Frontiers in psychology 9, S. 1-9. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00468
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00468 Abstract: Social robotics entertains a particular relationship with anthropomorphism, which it neither sees as a cognitive error, nor as a sign of immaturity. Rather it considers that this common human tendency, which is hypothesized to have evolved because it favored cooperation among early humans, can be used today to facilitate social interactions between humans and a new type of cooperative and interactive agents – social robots. This approach leads social robotics to focus research on the engineering of robots that activate anthropomorphic projections in users. The objective is to give robots ’social presence’ and ’social behaviors’ that are sufficiently credible for human users to engage in comfortable and potentially long-lasting relations with these machines. This choice of ‘applied anthropomorphism’ as a research methodology exposes the artifacts produced by social robotics to ethical condemnation: social robots are judged to be a ’cheating’ technology, as they generate in users the illusion of reciprocal social and affective relations. This article takes position in this debate, not only developing a series of arguments relevant to philosophy of mind, cognitive sciences, and robotic AI, but also asking what social robotics can teach us about anthropomorphism. On this basis, we propose a theoretical perspective that characterizes anthropomorphism as a basic mechanism of interaction, and rebuts the ethical reflections that a priori condemns ’anthropomorphism-based’ social robots. To address the relevant ethical issues, we promote a critical experimentally based ethical approach to social robotics, ’synthetic ethics,’ which aims at allowing humans to use social robots for two main goals: self-knowledge and moral growth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2018) : ETHICAL FRAMEWORK FOR MACHINE LEARNING: 2018 ITU Kaleidoscope: Machine Learning for a 5G Future (ITU K): Santa Fe, Argentina: IEEE, S. 1-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.23919/ITU-WT.2018.8597767 Abstract: Artificial Intelligence (AI) with its core subset of Machine Learning (ML) is rapidly transforming life experiences as humans begin to grow more dependent on these ‘smart machines’ for their needs - ranging from routine mundane chores to critical personal decisions. However, these transformative technologies are at the same time proving unpredictable too as has been reported worldwide in certain cases. Therefore, several studies/reports, such as COMEST report on Robotics ethics (UNESCO, 2017) point to an obvious need for inculcating more ethical behavior in machines. The present study aims to look at the role and interplay of ML (the hard sciences) and Ethics (the soft sciences) to resolve such predicaments that are inadvertently manifested by machines not constrained or controlled by human expectations. Based on focused review of literature of both domains-ML and Ethics, the proposed paper attempts to first build on the need for introduction of an ethical algorithm in the domain of machine learning and then endeavors to provide a conceptual framework to resolve the ethical dilemmas.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Artificial intelligence/machine learning, Big Data, COMEST report, critical personal decisions, Decision Making, design approach, domains-ML, emotional quotient, ethical algorithm, ethical aspects, ethical behavior, ethical dilemmas, ethical framework, Ethics, hard sciences, human expectations, ieee xplore, learning (artificial intelligence), machine learning, Machine learning algorithms, Moral & Ethik, Prediction algorithms, robotic ethics, Robots, routine mundane chores, smart machines, soft sciences, spiritual quotient, transformative technologies -
(2018): The essence of ethical reasoning in robot-emotion processing. In: International Journal of Social Robotics 10 (2), S. 211-223. DOI: 10.1007/s12369-017-0459-y
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-017-0459-y Abstract: As social robots become more and more intelligent and autonomous in operation, it is extremely important to ensure that such robots act in socially acceptable manner. More specifically, if such an autonomous robot is capable of generating and expressing emotions of its own, it should also have an ability to reason if it is ethical to exhibit a particular emotional state in response to a surrounding event. Most existing computational models of emotion for social robots have focused on achieving a certain level of believability of the emotions expressed. We argue that believability of a robot’s emotions, although crucially necessary, is not a sufficient quality to elicit socially acceptable emotions. Thus, we stress on the need of higher level of cognition in emotion processing mechanism which empowers social robots with an ability to decide if it is socially appropriate to express a particular emotion in a given context or it is better to inhibit such an experience. In this paper, we present the detailed mathematical explanation of the ethical reasoning mechanism in our computational model, EEGS, that helps a social robot to reach to the most socially acceptable emotional state when more than one emotions are elicited by an event. Experimental results show that ethical reasoning in EEGS helps in the generation of believable as well as socially acceptable emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2018): Ethical adoption: A new imperative in the development of technology for dementia. In: Alzheimer’s & Dementia 14 (9), S. 1104-1113. DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2018.04.012
DOI: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1552526018301390 Abstract: Introduction Technology interventions are showing promise to assist persons with dementia and their carers. However, low adoption rates for these technologies and ethical considerations have impeded the realization of their full potential. Methods Building on recent evidence and an iterative framework development process, we propose the concept of “ethical adoption”: the deep integration of ethical principles into the design, development, deployment, and usage of technology. Results Ethical adoption is founded on five pillars, supported by empirical evidence: (1) inclusive participatory design; (2) emotional alignment; (3) adoption modelling; (4) ethical standards assessment; and (5) education and training. To close the gap between adoption research, ethics and practice, we propose a set of 18 practical recommendations based on these ethical adoption pillars. Discussion Through the implementation of these recommendations, researchers and technology developers alike will benefit from evidence-informed guidance to ensure their solution is adopted in a way that maximizes the benefits to people with dementia and their carers while minimizing possible harm.
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(2018) : From social interaction to ethical AI: a developmental roadmap: 2018 Joint IEEE 8th International Conference on Development and Learning and Epigenetic Robotics (ICDL-EpiRob): Tokyo, Japan: IEEE, S. 204-211
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/DEVLRN.2018.8761023 Abstract: AI and robot ethics have recently gained a lot of attention because adaptive machines are increasingly involved in ethically sensitive scenarios and cause incidents of public outcry. Much of the debate has been focused on achieving highest moral standards in handling ethical dilemmas on which not even humans can agree, which indicates that the wrong questions are being asked. We suggest to address this ethics debate strictly through the lens of what behavior seems socially acceptable, rather than idealistically ethical. Learning such behavior puts the debate into the very heart of developmental robotics. This paper poses a roadmap of computational and experimental questions to address the development of socially acceptable machines. We emphasize the need for social reward mechanisms and learning architectures that integrate these while reaching beyond limitations of plain reinforcement-learning agents. We suggest to use the metaphor of “needs” to bridge rewards and higher level abstractions such as goals for both communication and action generation in a social context. We then suggest a series of experimental questions and possible platforms and paradigms to guide future research in the area.
Keywords: adaptive machines, Artificial intelligence, control engineering computing, Decision Making, developmental roadmap, developmental robotics, ethical AI, ethical aspects, ethically sensitive scenarios, Ethics, Face, ieee xplore, Künstliche Intelligenz, learning (artificial intelligence), plain reinforcement-learning agents, Robot Ethics, robot programming, Robot sensing systems, social interaction, social reward mechanisms, socially acceptable machines, standards -
(2018): An architecture for ethical robots inspired by the simulation theory of cognition. In: COGNITIVE SYSTEMS RESEARCH 48, S. 56-66. DOI: 10.1016/j.cogsys.2017.04.002
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsys.2017.04.002 Abstract: The expanding ability of robots to take unsupervised decisions renders it imperative that mechanisms are in place to guarantee the safety of their behaviour. Moreover, intelligent autonomous robots should be more than safe; arguably they should also be explicitly ethical. In this paper, we put forward a method for implementing ethical behaviour in robots inspired by the simulation theory of cognition. In contrast to existing frameworks for robot ethics, our approach does not rely on the verification of logic statements. Rather, it utilises internal simulations which allow the robot to simulate actions and predict their consequences. Therefore, our method is a form of robotic imagery. To demonstrate the proposed architecture, we implement a version of this architecture on a humanoid NAO robot so that it behaves according to Asimov’s laws of robotics. In a series of four experiments, using a second NAO robot as a proxy for the human, we demonstrate that the Ethical Layer enables the robot to prevent the human from coming to harm in simple test scenarios. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
2017
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(2017) : Beyond Moral Dilemmas: Exploring the Ethical Landscape in HRI: 2017 12th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI: Vienna, Austria: Association for Computing Machinery, S. 445-452
Abstract: HRI research has yielded intriguing empirical results connected to ethics and how we act in social contexts with robots, even though much of this work has focused on task-based, one-on-one interaction. In this paper, we point to the need to investigate a wider range of ethically relevant dynamics that interaction with robots carries with it - individually and in groups, with a single robot or more. We specifically examine three areas: 1) the primacy and implicit dynamics of bodily perception, 2) the competing interests at work in a single robot-human interaction, and 3) the social intricacy of multiple agents - robots and humans - communicating and making decisions. While these areas are not exhaustive by any means, we find they yield concrete directions for how HRI can contribute to a widening, intensifying set of ethical debates with critical empirical insight, starting to explore more of the ethical landscape in HRI.
Keywords: critical empirical insight, Decision Making, ethical aspects, ethical debates, ethical landscape, ethically relevant dynamics, Ethics, Ethics in HRI, HRI research, human-robot interaction, ieee xplore, implicit dynamics, Law, Moral & Ethik, moral dilemmas, multiple agents, robot dynamics, Robot sensing systems, robot-human interaction, social contexts, social intricacy, Task Analysis -
(2017): Leader social accounts of subordinates' unethical behavior. Examining observer reactions to leader social accounts with moral disengagement language. In: The Journal of applied psychology 102 (10), S. 1448-1461. DOI: 10.1037/apl0000233
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28493747 Abstract: When providing social accounts (Sitkin & Bies, 1993) for the unethical conduct of subordinates, leaders may use language consistent with cognitive strategies described by Bandura (1991, 1999) in his work on moral disengagement. That is, leader's social accounts may reframe or reconstrue subordinates' unethical conduct such that it appears less reprehensible. We predict observers will respond negatively to leaders when they use moral disengagement language within social accounts and, specifically, observers will ostracize these leaders. In addition, we predict that observer moral disengagement propensity moderates this effect, such that the relationship between leaders' use of moral disengagement language within a social account and ostracism is stronger when observer moral disengagement propensity is lower versus higher. Finally, we predict that the reason why observers ostracize the leader is because observers perceive the leader's social account with moral disengagement language as unethical. Thus, perceived leader social account ethicality is predicted to mediate the interaction effect of leader's use of moral disengagement language within social accounts and observer moral disengagement propensity on ostracism. Results from an experiment and field study support our predictions. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record
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(2017): The social turn in moral psychology. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Online verfügbar unter http://dx.doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262035569.001.0001
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262035569.001.0001 Abstract: The Social Turn in Moral Psychology is a probing inquiry into the disconnect between moral philosophy and empirical approaches to ethics. Drawing on a refreshing range of examples— including student protest movements, racial oppression, education policy, and life expectancy outcomes—Fedyk offers a promising strategy for bringing normative theory into alignment with the social sciences. Fedyk argues that moral psychology should take a social turn, investigating the psychological processes that motivate patterns of social behavior defined as ethical using normative information extracted from the social sciences. He points out methodological problems in conventional moral psychology, particularly the increasing methodological and conceptual inconsilience with both philosophical ethics and evolutionary biology. Fedyk's 'causal theory of ethics' is designed to provide moral psychology with an ethical theory that can be used without creating tension between its scientific p ractice and the conceptual vocabulary of philosophical ethics. His account aims both to redirect moral psychology toward more socially realistic questions about human life and lo introduce philosophers to a new form of ethical naturalism—a way of thinking about how to use different fields of scientific research to answer some of the traditional questions that are at the heart of ethics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
Keywords: causal theory of ethics, Ethics, Moral, Morality, Philosophies, social sciences, Sonstiges -
(2017): Ethics in Robotics Research: CERNA Mission and Context. In: IEEE Robotics Automation Magazine 24 (3), S. 139-145. DOI: 10.1109/MRA.2016.2611586
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MRA.2016.2611586 Abstract: This article summarizes the recommendations concerning robotics as issued by the Commission for the Ethics of Research in Information Sciences and Technologies (CERNA), the French advisory commission for the ethics of information and communication technology (ICT) research. Robotics has numerous applications in which its role can be overwhelming and may lead to unexpected consequences. In this rapidly evolving technological environment, CERNA does not set novel ethical standards but seeks to make ethical deliberation inseparable from scientific activity. Additionally, it provides tools and guidance for researchers and research institutions.
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(2017): A social-cognitive approach to understanding gender differences in negotiator ethics. The role of moral identity. In: Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 138, S. 28-44. DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.11.003
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.11.003 Abstract: To date, gender differences in ethics have received little theoretical attention. We utilize a social-cognitive framework to explain why these differences emerge and when women engage in less unethical negotiating behavior than do men. We propose that, relative to men’s, women’s stronger moral identities suppress unethical negotiating behavior. Study 1 establishes a gender difference in moral identity strength through a meta-analysis of over 19,000 people. Study 2 observes gender differences in two aspects of negotiator ethics—moral disengagement and opportunism. Study 3 establishes moral identity strength as an antecedent to negotiator ethics. Finally, Studies 4 and 5 explore financial incentives as a situational moderator. Because financial incentives temporarily decrease the salience of moral identity, they could mitigate gender differences in negotiator ethics, leading women to act more like men. Across both studies, financial incentives impacted women’s (but not men⍊ s) unethical negotiating behavior. Our findings help to explain why and when gender differences in ethics emerge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved) zitiert von: 7
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(2017): Moralpsychologie. Transdisziplinäre Perspektiven. 1. Auflage. Stuttgart: Verlag W. Kohlhammer (Ethik im Diskurs)
Abstract: Die Entwicklung des moralischen Urteils und der moralischen Motivation wird zusammenfassend dargestellt. Im Einzelnen betreffen die Ausführungen folgende Aspekte: das kindliche Moralverständnis, moralisches Wissen, moralische Motivation, auf die Moral bezogene Lernprozesse, die Entwicklung moralischer Motivation, die Entwicklung kognitiver Strukturen, die soziokognitive Strukturentwicklung, das Zusammenspiel von Motivation und Urteil (moralische Sensibilität, moralische Haltung), moralpsychologische Forschungsdesiderate. Es wird aufgezeigt, dass nach der neueren Forschung Kohlbergs Theorie Dimensionen bündelt, die unabhängig voneinander variieren können - moralisches Wissen und moralische Motivation, Entwicklung kognitiver und soziokognitiver Denkstrukturen, bereichsspezifische Wissenssysteme. Bereits Kinder wissen früh um die kategorische Sollgeltung moralischer Normen. Moralische Motivation, ein intrinsisches, formal-urteilbezogenes "second-order desire", entwickelt sich aber erst verzögert. Sie nimmt dann im Durchschnitt stetig zu, wobei allerdings individuelle Verläufe - auch in Abhängigkeit von der Identifikation mit herrschenden Geschlechtsstereotypen - erheblich variieren. Differenzierte moralische Urteilsbildung erfordert die Entwicklung kognitiver und soziokognitiver Strukturen sowie die Bereitschaft zu moralischem Selbstmanagement, also die Bereitschaft, automatisch und unbewusst ablaufende Prozesse vorurteilsgesteuerter Wahrnehmung durch bewusst eingesetzte Gegenstrategien zu kontrollieren.
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(2017) : Learning behavioral norms in uncertain and changing contexts: 2017 8th IEEE International Conference on Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom): Debrecen, Hungary: IEEE, S. 000301-000306
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/CogInfoCom.2017.8268261 Abstract: Human behavior is often guided by social and moral norms. Robots that enter human societies must therefore behave in norm-conforming ways as well to increase coordination, predictability, and safety in human-robot interactions. However, human norms are context-specific and laced with uncertainty, making the representation, learning, and communication of norms challenging. We provide a formal representation of norms using deontic logic, Dempster-Shafer Theory, and a machine learning algorithm that allows an artificial agent to learn norms under uncertainty from human data. We demonstrate a novel cognitive capability with which an agent can dynamically learn norms while being exposed to distinct contexts, recognizing the unique identity of each context and the norms that apply in it.
Keywords: Artificial agent, behavioral norms, behavioural sciences computing, Cognition, Conferences, Dempster-Shafer Theory, deontic logic, Ethics, formal logic, Human behavior, human societies, human-robot interaction, human-robot interactions, ieee xplore, inference mechanisms, learning (artificial intelligence), Libraries, machine learning algorithm, Moral & Ethik, moral norms, norm-conforming ways, Robot kinematics, Social Norms, uncertainty, uncertainty handling -
(2017): Examining overlap in behavioral and neural representations of morals, facts, and preferences. In: Journal of experimental psychology. General 146 (11), S. 1586-1605. DOI: 10.1037/xge0000350
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28805441 Abstract: Metaethical judgments refer to judgments about the information expressed by moral claims. Moral objectivists generally believe that moral claims are akin to facts, whereas moral subjectivists generally believe that moral claims are more akin to preferences. Evidence from developmental and social psychology has generally favored an objectivist view; however, this work has typically relied on few examples, and analyses have disallowed statistical generalizations beyond these few stimuli. The present work addresses whether morals are represented as fact-like or preference-like, using behavioral and neuroimaging methods, in combination with statistical techniques that can (a) generalize beyond our sample stimuli, and (b) test whether particular item features are associated with neural activity. Behaviorally, and contrary to prior work, morals were perceived as more preference-like than fact-like. Neurally, morals and preferences elicited common magnitudes and spatial patterns of activity, particularly within the dorsal-medial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), a critical region for social cognition. This common DMPFC activity for morals and preferences was present across whole-brain conjunctions, and in individually localized functional regions of interest (targeting the theory of mind network). By contrast, morals and facts did not elicit any neural activity in common. Follow-up item analyses suggested that the activity elicited in common by morals and preferences was explained by their shared tendency to evoke representations of mental states. We conclude that morals are represented as far more subjective than prior work has suggested. This conclusion is consistent with recent theoretical research, which has argued that morality is fundamentally about regulating social relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record zitiert von: 2
2016
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(2016): Roboethics: Sharing Our World with Humanlike Robots. In: IEEE Potentials 35 (1), S. 24-28. DOI: 10.1109/MPOT.2014.2364491
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MPOT.2014.2364491 Abstract: Major debates surround the field of robotics, making the potential development of humanlike robots one of the most controversial facets of modern technology. This is the result of the technology’s young age. A new technology must meet a number of requirements before people will reach an agreement on it; legal, social, and global considerations must be explored before robotics applications will be accepted by society.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence, ethical aspects, Ethics, global considerations, humanlike robots, Humanoid Robots, Humanoids, human-robot interaction, ieee xplore, legal considerations, Moral & Ethik, roboethics, robotics applications, Robots, social considerations, Social factors, Social implications of technology -
(2016): Moral objectivism across the lifespan. In: Philosophical Psychology 29 (6), S. 912-929. DOI: 10.1080/09515089.2016.1174843
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2016.1174843 Abstract: We report the results of two studies that examine folk metaethical judgments about the objectivity of morality. We found that participants attributed almost as much objectivity to ethical statements as they did to statements of physical fact and significantly more objectivity to ethical statements than to statements about preferences or tastes. In both studies, younger participants attributed less objectivity to ethical statements than older participants. Females were observed to attribute slightly less objectivity to ethical statements than males, and we found important interactions between attributions of objectivity and other factors, such as how strong participants’ moral opinions were and how much disagreement about the issue they perceived to exist within society. We believe our results have significant implications for debates about the nature of folk morality and about the nature of morality in general. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved ) zitiert von 21
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(2016) : Towards ethical robots: Revisiting Braitenberg’s vehicles: 2016 SAI Computing Conference (SAI): London, United Kingdom: IEEE, S. 469-477
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/SAI.2016.7556023 Abstract: The development of software and machines capable of making ethical judgements is a topic of great interest with both the research communities and the public. Debates over the possibility and practicality of such systems have only intensified with the increased use of robotics in the military arena and the ubiquity of AI in commercial products. Modern innovations, such as the driverless car, will likely make artificial ethical agents a legal necessity. As a research field, it has received relatively little attention compared to other, more traditional, AI problems. In this paper, we propose a bottom-up reactive system that provides one possible solution. We will begin by describing the motivation to this work: the development of artificial ethical agents could both mitigate some fears about the future of autonomous AI, and providing insight into human moral reasoning. We then explore the related work, including the current attempts at simulating ethics. We describe our novel approach to ethical simulation, Vessels; a Braitenberg Vehicle inspired reactive agent approach. We, then, demonstrate how Vessels can be configured to simulate both Egoism and Altruism, comparing our simulations to the normative theory.
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(2016) : The ethical risk of attachment how to identify, investigate and predict potential ethical risks in the development of social companion robots: 2016 11th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI): Christchurch, New Zealand: IEEE Press, S. 367-374
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/HRI.2016.7451774 Abstract: In this paper we present the Triple-A Model intended as a framework for researchers and developers to incorporate ethics in the user-and robot-centered design of social companion robots. The purpose of the model is to help identifying potential ethical risks in the implementation of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) scenarios. We base our model on three interaction levels, which companion robots can offer: Assistance, Adaptation, and Attachment (Triple-A). Every single interaction level has its specific potential ethical risks, which can be addressed during the robot development phase. However, we especially focus on the prominent ethical risks of long-term human-robot attachment and its implications on human-robot relationships. We discuss the practical use and the theoretical foundation of the Triple-A model which is well-grounded in the social role theory from sociology and the human cognitive-mnestic structure from cognitive science.
Keywords: assistance adaptation, Attachment, bonding, Cognition, Cognitive Science, ethical aspects, ethical risk, Ethics, HRI, human cognitive-mnestic structure, human-robot attachment, human-robot interaction, human-robot interaction scenarios, human-robot relationships, ieee xplore, Moral & Ethik, robot companions, robot development phase, robot-centered design, social companion robots, Social role, social role theory, socially assistive robots, triple-A model, user centred design, user-centered design -
(2016): Social and assistive robotics in dementia care: Ethical recommendations for research and practice. In: International Journal of Social Robotics 8 (4), S. 565-573. DOI: 10.1007/s12369-016-0366-7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-016-0366-7 Abstract: The steadily growing number of older adults with dementia worldwide poses a major challenge for global public health. The integration of robotics into both formal and informal dementia care opens up new possibilities for improving the life of patients and alleviating the burden on caregivers and the healthcare services. However, ethical, legal and social implications should be considered early in the development of assistive and social robots for dementia to prevent slow adoption, incorrect implementation and inappropriate use. This paper delineates the ethical landscape and provides recommendations for design and use aimed at protecting users and maximizing the benefit in assisting such vulnerable population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)