The Ambiguous Ethical Status of Autonomous Robots

This paper will present the argument that the ethical status of autonomous robots, both as ethical agents and objects of ethical consideration, will be based on, but not identical to, the ethical status of their makers, operators, and those people and other machines that will interact with them. Autonomous machines are agents, but are they moral agents? Are they subject to ethical consideration, and should they consider us in ethical considerations of their own? These questions are difficult because of the ambiguous ethical status of autonomous machines. In this paper I will work towards clarifying the ethical status of autonomous machines and in so doing make headway in confronting these questions. Perhaps one might be able to argue for the ethical status of autonomous machines based on how we treat nonhuman animals. I do not think this is going to be all that fruitful since at best, autonomous machines are a kind of animat, inspired by biology but not partaking in it, and they in no way experience the world as robustly as say a large mammal might. I believe it will be more fruitful to look at how the ethical status of non-autonomous technology has been discussed in engineering ethics and the philosophy of technology. Many of the researchers in these fields have argued persuasively that technological artifacts embody the values—including the ethical values—of their makers (Feenberg 1995, Idhe 1993, Mitcham 1994, Pitt 2000, Winner 1988). They argue that the design and function of any given artifact is difficult to fully explain unless one takes into account the values and worldview of their creators. This argument suggests that it is not efficiency alone that dictates the design of an artifact. Instead, efficiency along with social epistemological aesthetic and ethical values all play a part in the ultimate end product of the design process. As an example, one can simply juxtapose a large SUV with a small hybrid vehicle and instantly see a tangible signal of the political and socia