Robot law and Artificial Intelligence
Lecture 2
Why Ethical aspects?
Some applications evoke ethical concerns. It helps us think about these ethical concerns in a more
structured way.
Unclear and inconsistent intuitions
There are 6 different cases:
1. Telling a lie
a. Not okay on itself
2. Telling a lie for a very good reason
a. There may be circumstances were telling a lie is the right thing to do.
i. Ss officer asks, where is this Jewish person?
3. Harming yourself (Drug use, scratch yourself)
4. Doing a disgusting thing without harming anyone (in the privacy of your own home)
5. Donating to a charity
a. Overall good, but is it if you do it to impress someone?
Right and wrong
2 General questions:
1. What do we mean when we say “wrong” and “right” in concrete cases?
2. Why are acts wrong (or not) in the cases in general?
4 different distinctions:
1. The right - permissible/impermissible
a. A binary concept - not a degree, you can either do it or not
2. The good - morally better/worse than
a. A matter of degree
i. Something is good, but the other may be slightly better
3. Blameworthy/praiseworthy
a. Often link to a persons intentions or character
b. If you do something wrong accidently
4. Legal/illegal
a. Law follows morality to some extend
i. Some things are morally wrong, but not illegal.
b. However, morality does not follow the law
i. Acts are not morally wrong because they are illegal
Ethical theories: teleology and deontology
We are born with a feeling for values and ethics, but we are also educated with such values.
There is also a universal morality, a universal view of right and wrong.
Morality shapes over time
Law shapes morality
Lecture 2
Why Ethical aspects?
Some applications evoke ethical concerns. It helps us think about these ethical concerns in a more
structured way.
Unclear and inconsistent intuitions
There are 6 different cases:
1. Telling a lie
a. Not okay on itself
2. Telling a lie for a very good reason
a. There may be circumstances were telling a lie is the right thing to do.
i. Ss officer asks, where is this Jewish person?
3. Harming yourself (Drug use, scratch yourself)
4. Doing a disgusting thing without harming anyone (in the privacy of your own home)
5. Donating to a charity
a. Overall good, but is it if you do it to impress someone?
Right and wrong
2 General questions:
1. What do we mean when we say “wrong” and “right” in concrete cases?
2. Why are acts wrong (or not) in the cases in general?
4 different distinctions:
1. The right - permissible/impermissible
a. A binary concept - not a degree, you can either do it or not
2. The good - morally better/worse than
a. A matter of degree
i. Something is good, but the other may be slightly better
3. Blameworthy/praiseworthy
a. Often link to a persons intentions or character
b. If you do something wrong accidently
4. Legal/illegal
a. Law follows morality to some extend
i. Some things are morally wrong, but not illegal.
b. However, morality does not follow the law
i. Acts are not morally wrong because they are illegal
Ethical theories: teleology and deontology
We are born with a feeling for values and ethics, but we are also educated with such values.
There is also a universal morality, a universal view of right and wrong.
Morality shapes over time
Law shapes morality
