Science fiction has moved on, Robots are here. The field of Robotics has rapidly become one of the leading fields of science and technology, and as a result, robots are no longer confined to large industries, but now live amidst us. These developments have important social, economic, and ethical effects. As with other technologies and applications of scientific discoveries, the public is already asking questions such as: “Could a robot do "good" and "evil”? “Could robots be dangerous for humankind?”. Like Nuclear Physics, or Bioengineering, it is inevitable that Robotics will soon be placed under scrutiny from an ethical standpoint. Realizing this, an increasing number of roboticists from all over the world, in cross-cultural collaboration with scholars of Humanities, started discussions aimed to lay down the framework for the ethics that should inspire the design, manufacturing and use of robots – Roboethics.
The issue of the relationship between humankind and autonomous machines – automata - appeared early in world literature, developed firstly through legends and myths, and more recently by scientific and moral essays. The topic of the rebellions of automata recurs in classic European literature, as well as the misuse or the evil use of the product of ingenuity. It is not so in all the world cultures: for instance, the mythology of the Japanese cultures does not include such paradigm. On the contrary, machines (and, in general, human products) are always portrayed as beneficial and friendly to humanity.
Robotics, as a discipline, combines a variety of other field, from Mechanics, Physics, Mathematics, Automation and Control, to Electronics, Computer Science, Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence. This unique combination forces concepts as complex as intelligence, autonomy, learning, consciousness, evaluation, free will, decision making, freedom, and emotions, into the picture when ethical considerations are made. Add to this the fact that these same...