Social Assistive Robotics

An Ethical and Political Inquiry Through the Lens of Freedom

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21199725
AutoresJúlia Pareto Boada (0000-0003-4879-8800, Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial, autor de correspondencia), Mark Coeckelbergh (0000-0001-9576-1002, University of Vienna)
Año2024
Volumen16
Número8
Páginas1797-1808
Fecha de publicación2024-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Journal of Social Robotics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1875-4791 • E-ISSN: 1875-4805
EditorialSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s12369-024-01161-x
PMID39221112
OpenAlexW4400663136
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas30

The development of social assistive robots for supporting healthcare provision faces a lack of an ethical approach that adequately addresses the normatively relevant challenges regarding its deployment. Current ethical reflection is primarily informed by an individual-centered perspective focused on robots’ implications for their end-users and thereby limited to the dyadic human–robot interaction sphere. Considering that this is tightly correlated to the restricted understanding of core ethical concepts upon which reflection stands, this paper delves into the concept of freedom from a philosophical perspective to unfold its full normative breadth for a critical assessment of technological development. By bringing to the fore the political-structural dimension of freedom and, in turn, elaborating the political dimension of technology, the undertaken philosophical approach discloses freedom as a transversal ethical concept for a normative reflection on technology. Thereby, it broadens the scope of ethical attention beyond the sphere of human–robot interaction and turns attention to the so far overlooked structural dimension of human–robot relations. Drawing on conceptions of freedom as non-domination, among others, the paper approaches social assistive robotics and reexamines the terrain of relevant issues for its development. Since freedom is one major issue upon which current concerns revolve, the undertaken analysis substantially enriches the ongoing ethical discussion on social assistive robotics’ implications for human freedom. In this way, this work contributes to going beyond the current individual-centered ethical perspective by laying conceptual grounds for a comprehensive ethical approach to social assistive robotics’ development

Computer vision · Engineering ethics · Mechatronics · Political science · Politics · Robot · Robotics · Sociology · Through-the-lens metering · Computer Science · Engineering · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Law · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence