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21 - Ethical Protocols Design

from PART IV - APPROACHES TO MACHINE ETHICS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2011

By
Matteo Turilli
Edited by
Michael Anderson  and
Susan Leigh Anderson
Michael Anderson
Affiliation:
University of Hartford, Connecticut
Susan Leigh Anderson
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
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Summary

Introduction

The responsibilities of a system designer are growing and expanding in fields that only ten years ago were the exclusive realms of philosophy, sociology, or jurisprudence. Nowadays, a system designer must have a deep understanding not only of the social and legal implications of what he is designing, but also of the ethical nature of the systems he is conceptualizing. These artifacts not only behave autonomously in their environments, embedding themselves into the functional tissue or our society but also “re-ontologise” part of our social environment, shaping new spaces in which people operate.

It is in the public interest that automated systems minimize their usage of limited resources, are safe for users, and integrate ergonomically within the dynamics of everyday life. For instance, one expects banks to offer safe, multifunction ATMs, hospitals to ensure that electro-medical instruments do not electrocute patients, and nuclear plants to employ redundant, formally specified control systems.

It is equally important to the public interest that artificial autonomous entities behave correctly. Autonomous and interactive systems affect the social life of millions of individuals, while performing critical operations such as managing sensitive information, financial transactions, or the packaging and delivery of medicines. The development of a precise understanding of what it means for such artifacts to behave in accordance with the ethical principles endorsed by a society is a pressing issue.

Type
Chapter
Information
Machine Ethics , pp. 375 - 397
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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