Prof. Dr. Susan L. Anderson, one of the most famous machine ethicists in the world, attended the 23rd Berlin Colloquium. She summarized her talk („Developing Ethics for Eldercare Robots“) in the brochure of the event with regard to the technology of care robots as follows: „Ideally, we would like eldercare robots to be able make correct ethical decisions on their own. This poses many challenges for machine ethicists. There are those who claim that ethics cannot be computed, that ethics is subjective, and/or that it makes no sense to speak of a robot as being an ethical agent. I argue to the contrary, maintaining that it is possible to represent numerically the ethical dilemmas with which an eldercare robot might be presented; and the robot could be given an ethical principle, derived from cases where ethicists agree as to the correct answer, to compute which of the possible actions it could perform at a given moment in time is the best one. It can also explain why it did what it did, if challenged. The robot will not be a full ethical agent, lacking some qualities of human agents; but it is all we need, and even desire.“ Susan L. Anderson had been invited by Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel, who is himself a machine ethicist.
Fig.: Susan L. Anderson together with Michael Anderson (photo: Daimler and Benz Foundation)
Prof. Dr. Michael Anderson, one of the most famous machine ethicists in the world, attended the 23rd Berlin Colloquium. He summarized his presentation („An Ethical Care Robot“) in the brochure of the event with regard to the technology of care robots as follows: As with any technology, „its advantages need to be tempered with its possible disadvantages such as fewer employment opportunities and patient isolation“. „Further, given the intimate nature of this technology, it is of paramount importance that it behaves in an ethical manner towards its users. To insure ethical behavior from such technology, we maintain that its actions should be guided by a set of ethical values. As it is unrealistic to expect those with the expertise necessary to develop such technology will be equally competent in its ethical dimensions, we also maintain that this set of values be abstracted from a consensus of ethicists. To this end, we propose a case-supported, principle-based behavior paradigm where behavior of autonomous machines is directed by domain-specific ethical principles abstracted from the judgements of ethicists on simple, agreed upon cases. As ethics entails more than simply not taking improper action but choosing the best action in a given situation, we advocate that every action a care robot takes be determined by such ethical principles. As transparency will be important in such systems, ethical principles and the cases from which they have been derived have the added benefit of serving as support for why a particular action was chosen over another. To show the feasibility of the proposed paradigm, we have developed a principle in the domain of elder care and instantiated it in a SoftBank Robotics NAO robot situated in a simulated eldercare environment.“ Michael Anderson had been invited by Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel, who is himself a machine ethicist.
Fig.: Michael Anderson in Berlin (photo: Daimler and Benz Foundation)
Using an interdisciplinary approach, the book „AI love you“ explores the emerging topics and rapid technological developments of robotics and artificial intelligence through the lens of the evolving role of sex robots, and how they should best be designed to serve human needs. „An international panel of authors provides the most up-to-date, evidence-based empirical research on the potential sexual applications of artificial intelligence. Early chapters discuss the objections to sexual activity with robots while also providing a counterargument to each objection. Subsequent chapters present the implications of robot sex as well as the security and data privacy issues associated with sexual interactions with artificial intelligence.“ (Information by Springer) Topics featured in this book include: the Sexual Interaction Illusion Model, the personal companion system, Harmony, designed by Realbotix, an exposition of the challenges of personal data control and protection when dealing with artificial intelligence, and the current and future technological possibilities of projecting three-dimensional holograms. Oliver Bendel is the author of the contribution to the latter topic, entitled „Hologram Girl“. The book is edited by Yuefang Zhou and Martin H. Fischer and will be published in summer 2019. More information via www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030197339.
Fig.: A talk by Oliver Bendel (photo: Meret Buser)
The title of one of the AAAI 2019 Spring Symposia is „Interpretable AI for Well-Being: Understanding Cognitive Bias and Social Embeddedness“. An important keyword here is „social embeddedness“. Social embeddedness of AI includes issues like „AI and future economics (such as basic income, impact of AI on GDP)“ or „well-being society (such as happiness of citizen, life quality)“. In his paper „Are Robot Tax, Basic Income or Basic Property Solutions to the Social Problems of Automation?“ Oliver Bendel discusses and criticizes these approaches in the context of automation and digitization. Moreover, he develops a relatively unknown proposal, unconditional basic property, and presents its potentials as well as its risks. The lecture by Oliver Bendel took place on 26 March 2019 at Stanford University and led to lively discussions.
„In the last five years, work on software that interacts with people via typed or spoken natural language, called chatbots, intelligent assistants, social bots, virtual companions, non-human players, and so on, increased dramatically. Chatbots burst into prominence in 2016. Then came a wave of research, more development, and some use. The time is right to assess what we have learned from endeavoring to build conversational user interfaces that simulate quasi-human partners engaged in real conversations with real people.“ (Website Conversational Agents) The CHI 2019 workshop „Conversational Agents: Acting on the Wave of Research and Development“ (Glasgow, 5 May) brings together people „who developed or studied various conversational agents, to explore themes that include what works (and hasn’t) in home, education, healthcare, and work settings, what we have learned from this about people and their activities, and social or ethical possibilities for good or risk“ (Website Conversational Agents). Oliver Bendel will present three chatbots developed between 2013 and 2018 in the discipline of machine ethics, GOODBOT, LIEBOT and BESTBOT. More information via convagents.org.
The article „The Synthetization of Human Voices“ by Oliver Bendel, first published on 26 July 2017, is now available as a print version. The synthetization of voices, or speech synthesis, has been an object of interest for centuries. It is mostly realized with a text-to-speech system (TTS), an automaton that interprets and reads aloud. This system refers to text available for instance on a website or in a book, or entered via popup menu on the website. Today, just a few minutes of samples are enough in order to be able to imitate a speaker convincingly in all kinds of statements. The article abstracts from actual products and actual technological realization. Rather, after a short historical outline of the synthetization of voices, exemplary applications of this kind of technology are gathered for promoting the development, and potential applications are discussed critically in order to be able to limit them if necessary. The ethical and legal challenges should not be underestimated, in particular with regard to informational and personal autonomy and the trustworthiness of media. The article was published in AI & SOCIETY, 34(1), 83-89.
In 2019, the Faculty of Philosophy and Educational Research at Ruhr-Universität Bochum will be awarding a W1 (W2) tenure-track professorship for Ethics of digital methods and technologies at the Institute of Philosophy I. „The future tenure-track professor will be representing the field of ethics in union with philosophy of current technology excellently in education and research. She/he has performed in different areas of digital ethics by pertinent publications and features excellent knowledge of digital methods and technologies. Ethical problems of digitisation are treated in close relation with epistemological and methodological analysis of current IT-developments. Close cooperation with nearby professorships in the humanities and social sciences and the emerging ‚Center for Computer Science‘ at RUB is expected.“ (Job advertisement) Applications and all relevant documents are to be submitted by e-mail by 31 January, 2019 to the Dean at the Faculty of Philosophy and Educational Research at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Prof. Dr. Norbert Ricken. More information is available here.
Robots in the health sector are important, valuable innovations and supplements. As therapy and nursing robots, they take care of us and come close to us. In addition, other service robots are widespread in nursing and retirement homes and hospitals. With the help of their sensors, all of them are able to recognize us, to examine and classify us, and to evaluate our behavior and appearance. Some of these robots will pass on our personal data to humans and machines. They invade our privacy and challenge the informational autonomy. This is a problem for the institutions and the people that needs to be solved. The article “The Spy who Loved and Nursed Me: Robots and AI Systems in Healthcare from the Perspective of Information Ethics” by Oliver Bendel presents robot types in the health sector, along with their technical possibilities, including their sensors and their artificial intelligence capabilities. Against this background, moral problems are discussed, especially from the perspective of information ethics and with respect to privacy and informational autonomy. One of the results shows that such robots can improve the personal autonomy, but the informational autonomy is endangered in an area where privacy has a special importance. At the end, solutions are proposed from various disciplines and perspectives. The article was published in Telepolis on December 17, 2018 and can be accessed via www.heise.de/tp/features/The-Spy-who-Loved-and-Nursed-Me-4251919.html.
At the conference „Robophilosophy“ in Vienna in February 2018, Hiroshi Ishiguro spoke about his geminoid, which he adjusts every few years according to his own statement. Looking at him one could assume he was adjusted too, considering how much younger he seems than on older photos showing him with his artificial twin. After his speech, the audience fired questions at him. One question was why did he build robots at all when there was virtual reality? He answered because of the presence in space. Only holograms could come close to such a presence in future. Some universities are now planning to have lecturers appear as holograms in front of the students. This would actually be an alternative to the use of teaching robots and video-conferencing. Even interactions would be possible if the holograms or projections were connected to speech systems. Dr. David Lefevre, director of Imperial’s Edtech Lab, told the BBC: „The alternative is to use video-conferencing software but we believe these holograms have a much greater sense of presence“. The Gatebox, which was recently launched on the market, and a publication by Oliver Bendel („Hologram Girl“), which will be available at the beginning of 2019, show that love relationships with holograms or projections are also possible.
Ein aktueller Beitrag von Bloomberg widmet sich dem Biohacking und auch speziell dem Bodyhacking. Nach der Meinung von Oliver Bendel hat jeder hat das Recht, sich Chips zu implantieren oder Prothesen anzubringen und sich anderweitig zu optimieren. Manchmal dient dies auch gesundheitlichen Zwecken. Der Umbau des Körpers ist alt, wenn man an Piercings, Tattoos etc. und Schönheitsoperationen denkt. Wenn gesellschaftlicher, wirtschaftlicher oder politischer Druck besteht, wird es jedoch problematisch. Die Gesellschaft könnte die Entwicklung cool finden und sie dadurch fördern. Die Wirtschaft könnte sie wichtig für die Leistungssteigerung finden – und weil sie die Technologien verkaufen will. Die Politik könnte uns einreden, dass jeder Mensch eindeutig identifizierbar sein muss, um die Terrorgefahr abzuwenden – und nichts sicherer sei als ein Chip im Körper. Im Beitrag von Bloomberg vom 19. Oktober 2018 geht Oliver Bendel davon aus, dass man gerade erst am Anfang eines Trends steht. Interessant werden es viele Menschen finden, ihre Empfindungsmöglichkeiten zu erweitern. Der Beitrag kann über www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-19/biohackers-are-implanting-everything-from-magnets-to-sex-toys abgerufen werden.
The BESTBOT was developed at the School of Business FHNW from March to August 2018. Predecessor projects were GOODBOT (2013) and LIEBOT (2016). Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel has been doing research in the young discipline of machine ethics for several years. In cooperation with robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), it designs and produces moral machines. At the beginning of 2018 Bendel presented his paper „From GOODBOT to BESTBOT“ at Stanford University, which laid the foundation for the BESTBOT project. David Studer programmed the chatbot in Java. Prof. Dr. Bradley Richards assisted him in technical matters. Like LIEBOT, BESTBOT is a networked system that exploits search engines and dictionaries. It analyzes the user’s text input with text-based emotion recognition software. At the same time, face recognition is used, again with emotion recognition. For example, if the user states that he is doing well but reveals something else on his face, the chatbot addresses this contradiction. It recognizes both small and big worries. Like the GOODBOT, the BESTBOT can escalate over several levels and provide a suitable emergency number. Like its predecessor, it makes it clear that it is only a machine. It is also special that it cites the source of factual allegations. The BESTBOT will be presented at conferences in 2019.
The international workshop „Understanding AI & Us“ will take place in Berlin (Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society) on 30 June 2018. It is hosted by Joanna Bryson (MIT), Janina Loh (University of Vienna), Stefan Ullrich (Weizenbaum Institute Berlin) and Christian Djeffal (IoT and Government, Berlin). Birgit Beck, Oliver Bendel and Pak-Hang Wong are invited to the panel on the ethical challenges of artificial intelligence. The aim of the workshop is to bring together experts from the field of research reflecting on AI. The event is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation (VolkswagenStiftung). The project „Understanding AI & Us“ furthers and deepens the understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) in an interdisciplinary way. „This is done in order to improve the ways in which AI-systems are invented, designed, developed, and criticised.“ (Invitation letter) „In order to achieve this, we form a group that merges different abilities, competences and methods. The aim is to provide space for innovative and out-of-the-box-thinking that would be difficult to pursue in ordinary academic discourse in our respective disciplines. We are seeking ways to merge different disciplinary epistemological standpoints in order to increase our understanding of the development of AI and its impact upon society.“ (Invitation letter)
„Sex robots are coming, but the argument that they could bring health benefits, including offering paedophiles a ’safe‘ outlet for their sexual desires, is not based on evidence, say researchers. The market for anthropomorphic dolls with a range of orifices for sexual pleasure – the majority of which are female in form, and often boast large breasts, tiny waists and sultry looks – is on the rise, with such dummies selling for thousands of pounds a piece.“ (Guardian, 5 June 2018) These are the initial words of an article in the well-known British daily newspaper Guardian, published on 5 June 2018. It quotes Susan Bewley, professor of women’s health at Kings College London, and Oliver Bendel, professor at the School of Business FHNW. Oliver Bendel is not in favor of a ban on the development of sex robots and love dolls. However, he can imagine that the area of application could be limited. He calls for empirical research in the field. The article can be accessed via www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jun/04/claims-about-social-benefits-of-sex-robots-greatly-overstated-say-experts.
Machine ethics researches the morality of semiautonomous and autonomous machines. The School of Business at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW realized a project for implementation of a prototype called GOODBOT, a novelty chatbot and a simple moral machine. One of its meta rules was it should not lie unless not lying would hurt the user. It was a stand-alone solution, not linked with other systems and not internet- or web-based. In the LIEBOT project, the mentioned meta rule was reversed. This web-based chatbot, implemented in 2016, could lie systematically. It was an example of a simple immoral machine. A follow-up project in 2018 is going to develop the BESTBOT, considering the restrictions of the GOODBOT and the opportunities of the LIEBOT. The aim is to develop a machine that can detect problems of users of all kinds and can react in an adequate way. To achieve this, it will use approaches of face recognition. The paper „From GOODBOT to BESTBOT“ describes the preconditions and findings of the GOODBOT project and the results of the LIEBOT project and outlines the subsequent BESTBOT project. A reflection from the perspective of information ethics is included. Oliver Bendel presented his paper on 27 March 2018 at Stanford University („AI and Society: Ethics, Safety and Trustworthiness in Intelligent Agents“, AAAI 2018 Spring Symposium Series). The entire volume can be downloaded via AAAI.
The book chapter „Co-robots from an Ethical Perspective“ by Oliver Bendel was published in March 2018. It is included in the book „Business Information Systems and Technology 4.0“ (Springer). The abstract: „Cooperation and collaboration robots work hand in hand with their human colleagues. This contribution focuses on the use of these robots in production. The co-robots (to use this umbrella term) are defined and classified, and application areas, examples of applications and product examples are mentioned. Against this background, a discussion on moral issues follows, both from the perspective of information and technology ethics and business ethics. Central concepts of these fields of applied ethics are referred to and transferred to the areas of application. In moral terms, the use of cooperation and collaboration robots involves both opportunities and risks. Co-robots can support workers and save them from strains and injuries, but can also displace them in certain activities or make them dependent. Machine ethics is included at the margin; it addresses whether and how to improve the decisions and actions of (partially) autonomous systems with respect to morality. Cooperation and collaboration robots are a new and interesting subject for it.“ The book can be ordered here.
The tentative schedule of AAAI 2018 Spring Symposium on AI and Society at Stanford University (26 – 28 March 2018) has been published. On Tuesday Emma Brunskill from Stanford University, Philip C. Jackson („Toward Beneficial Human-Level AI … and Beyond“) and Andrew Williams („The Potential Social Impact of the Artificial Intelligence Divide“) will give a lecture. Oliver Bendel will have two talks, one on „The Uncanny Return of Physiognomy“ and one on „From GOODBOT to BESTBOT“. From the description on the website: „Artificial Intelligence has become a major player in today’s society and that has inevitably generated a proliferation of thoughts and sentiments on several of the related issues. Many, for example, have felt the need to voice, in different ways and through different channels, their concerns on: possible undesirable outcomes caused by artificial agents, the morality of their use in specific sectors, such as the military, and the impact they will have on the labor market. The goal of this symposium is to gather a diverse group of researchers from many disciplines and to ignite a scientific discussion on this topic.“ (AAAI website)
Face recognition is the automated recognition of a face or the automated identification, measuring and description of features of a face. In the 21st century, it is increasingly attempted to connect to the pseudoscience of physiognomy, which has its origins in ancient times. From the appearance of persons, a conclusion is drawn to their inner self, and attempts are made to identify character traits, personality traits and temperament, or political and sexual orientation. Biometrics plays a role in this concept. It was founded in the eighteenth century, when physiognomy under the lead of Johann Caspar Lavater had its dubious climax. In the paper „The Uncanny Return of Physiognomy“, the basic principles of this topic are elaborated; selected projects from research and practice are presented and, from an ethical perspective, the possibilities of face recognition are subjected to fundamental critique in this context, including the above examples. Oliver Bendel will present his paper in March 2018 at Stanford University („AI and Society: Ethics, Safety and Trustworthiness in Intelligent Agents“, AAAI 2018 Spring Symposium Series).
The Digital Europe Working Group Conference Robotics will take place on 8 November 2017 at the European Parliament in Brussels. The keynote address will be given by Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Digital Society and Economy. The speakers of the first panel are Oliver Bendel (Professor of Information Systems, Information Ethics and Machine Ethics at the School of Business FHNW, via video conference), Anna Byhovskaya (policy and communications advisor, Trade Union Advisory Council of the OECD) and Malcolm James (Senior Lecturer in Accounting & Taxation, Cardiff Metropolitan University). The third panel will be moderated by Mady Delvaux (Member of the European Parliament). Speaker is Giovanni Sartor (Professor of Legal Informatics and Legal Theory at the European University Institute). The poster can be downloaded here. Further information is available at www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/events/sd-group-digital-europe-working-group-robotics.
„Autonome Waffen, künstliche Intelligenz, Algorithmen: In einer digitalisierten Welt stellen sich zahlreiche ethische Fragen. Wo genau liegen die Problemfelder? Wie sollen wir als Gesellschaft damit umgehen? Und wo muss sogar Umdenken stattfinden? Auf diese Fragen wollen die insgesamt 20 Beiträge ausgewählter Expertinnen und Experten erste Antworten geben und einen Diskurs entfachen, der uns noch viele Jahre beschäftigen wird. Die Anthologie wird am 25. Oktober 2017 im Verlag iRights.Media erscheinen und kann bereits jetzt als Print auf iRights.Media sowie als e-Book auf Amazon und iTunes vorbestellt werden.“ So die Ankündigung auf der Website von iRights.Media zum neuen Buch mit dem Titel „3TH1CS“. Nach einem Vorwort der Herausgeber („Die Neuerfindung der Ethik ist unsere Aufgabe!“) und einem Interview mit Rafael Capurro („Digitalisierung als ethische Herausforderung“) folgen u.a. Beiträge von Luciano Floridi („Die Mangroven-Gesellschaft“), Oliver Bendel („Sexroboter und Robotersex aus Sicht der Ethik“), Susan Leigh Anderson und Michael Anderson („Ethische Roboter für die Altenpflege“), Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer („Terminator-Ethik: Sollten Killerroboter verboten werden?“) und Hu Yong („Das Internet ist nicht genderneutral“). Zum Abschluss gibt es ein Interview mit Kate Darling („Von Robotern und Menschen – wo liegt die wahre Gefahr?“). Weitere Informationen über irights-lab.de.
Abb.: Das neue Buch zu Informations-, Roboter- und Maschinenethik
Inverse is an American online magazine, launched by Dave Nemetz, co-founder of Bleacher Report. It is based in San Francisco, California. According to the New York Observer, Inverse „aims to capture the millennial dude market with quirky takes on subjects like tech, games (video and board) and space“ (Observer, October 20, 2015). Gabe Bergado asked the ethicist Oliver Bendel about sex robots and love dolls. One issue was: „Why are more companies and people becoming more interested in sex robots?“ The reply to it: „Companies want to earn money. But I don’t think that this is a big market. Sex robots will remain a niche product. But, of course, sex toys are popular, und together with virtual and mixed reality, this could be the biggest thing next year. Some people and media are sensation-seeking. That’s why they are interested in sex robots and in men and women who fall in love with machines.“ Another question was: „How should governments be reacting to the development of sex robots? Should there be regulations?“ The answer is short and clear again: „Sex robots will remain a niche product, and I don’t think there will be many needs for regulation. Adults can do whatever they want to do, provided that they do not affect or disturb others in extreme ways. But I’m against child-like robots in brothels. Perhaps this should be banned.“ The ethicist concluded with respect to sex robots: „It is interesting for a philosopher to research them and our relationship with them.“ The final version of the interview was published in the article „Sex Robots Can’t Automate Emotional Intimacy“ (January 28, 2017) which is available via www.inverse.com/article/27001-sex-robots-virtual-reality-engineering-oliver-mendel-interview.
The swissnexDay’16 will take place at the University of Basel (December 15, 2016). The second break-out session „Care-Robots – an elderly’s best friend?“ starts shortly after 4 pm. An extract from the description: „Ageing societies and a lack of qualified caregivers are challenging our current system and innovative solutions are strongly needed. Japan, with 20% of its population being over 65 years, is leading the development of robotic solutions. In this session, a diverse panel will discuss the current landscape in Japan and draw comparison to the situation in Switzerland. We will also discuss ethical applications and different perception of the relationship between human + robots.“ (Website swissnex) Kyoko Suzuki (Deputy Head, S&T Tokyo), Christiana Tsiourti (University of Geneva) and Christine Fahlberg (School of Business FHNW, master student of Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel) will present their current research and discuss about robots in healthcare. Christine Fahlberg is focussing on the use of nursing robots from the perspective of ethics. Keynote speakers of the swissnexDay’16 are Prof. Dr. Andrea Schenker-Wicki (President, University of Basel), Dr. med. Guy Morin (President of the Executive Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt) and State Secretary Mauro Dell’Ambrogio (State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation). Further information via www.swissnex.org.
Prior to the hearing in the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany on 22 June 2016 from 4 – 6 pm, the contracted experts had sent their written comments on ethical and legal issues with respect to the use of robots and artificial intelligence. The video for the hearing can be accessed via www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2016/kw25-pa-digitale-agenda/427996. The documents of Oliver Bendel (School of Business FHNW), Eric Hilgendorf (University of Würzburg), Norbert Elkman (Fraunhofer IPK) and Ryan Calo (University of Washington) were published in July on the website of the German Bundestag. Answering the question „Apart from legal questions, for example concerning responsibility and liability, where will ethical questions, in particular, also arise with regard to the use of artificial intelligence or as a result of the aggregation of information and algorithms?“ the US scientist explained: „Robots and artificial intelligence raise just as many ethical questions as legal ones. We might ask, for instance, what sorts of activities we can ethically outsource to machines. Does Germany want to be a society that relegates the use of force, the education of children, or eldercare to robots? There are also serious challenges around the use of artificial intelligence to make material decisions about citizens in terms of minimizing bias and providing for transparency and accountability – issues already recognized to an extent by the EU Data Directive.“ (Website German Bundestag) All documents (most of them in German) are available via www.bundestag.de/bundestag/ausschuesse18/a23/anhoerungen/fachgespraech/428268.
