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A Code of Ethics for Robotics Engineers

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A Code of Ethics for Robotics Engineers A CODE OF ETHICS FOR ROBOTICS ENGINEERS An Interactive Qualifying Project Report Submitted to the faculty of WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science By: Brandon Ingram Daniel Jones Andrew Lewis Matthew Richards Advisors: Professor Lance Schachterle Professor Charles Rich 3/6/2010 Code of Ethics for Robotics Engineers 2 Abstract This project developed a draft code of ethics for professional robotics engineers by researching into the fields of robotics, ethics and roboethics to develop the necessary understanding. The code was drafted and presented to students, professors and professionals for feedback and revision. The code is now hosted at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions website (ethics.iit.edu), and is open for discussion at (rbethics.lefora.com). It is being proposed for adoption to the WPI Robotics Program faculty and the WPI Robotics Engineering Honors Fraternity, Rho Beta Epsilon. Acknowledgements In addition to our advisors, we would like to thank all have helped in researching and developing this code of ethics, either by providing feedback or information. Those that helped on campus include: John Sanbonmatsu, Kent Rissmiller, Michael Gennert, Brad Miller, Aaron Holroyd, Brian Benson, Elizabeth Alexander, Ciarán Murphy, Phi Sigma Kappa, Phi Kappa Theta, the WPI Robotics Faculty and Rho Beta Epsilon. Those off campus include: P.W. Singer, Martin Sklar, Jim Mail, Ronald Arkin, and Kelly Laas. Code of Ethics for Robotics Engineers 3 Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Literature Review............................................................................................................................ 6 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 6 General Ethics ............................................................................................................................. 6 Professional Ethics ...................................................................................................................... 8 Current State of Robotics Industry ............................................................................................11 The Study of Roboethics ........................................................................................................... 14 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 18 Analysis......................................................................................................................................... 20 Need for a code of ethics for robotics engineers ................................................................... 20 Discussion on military robots ............................................................................................... 21 Focus Group discussions....................................................................................................... 22 Code of Ethics for Robotics Engineers ......................................................................................... 24 Reasoning Behind the Code .......................................................................................................... 27 IEEE Comparison ................................................................................................................. 34 Future Work .................................................................................................................................. 37 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 38 Works Cited................................................................................................................................... 39 Appendix A: IEEE Code of Ethics................................................................................................ 44 Appendix B: ASME Code of Ethics ............................................................................................. 45 Appendix C: ACM Code of Ethics ............................................................................................... 47 Appendix D: Ethical Questions to Consider When Writing a Code ............................................. 55 Appendix E: RICC Survey............................................................................................................ 60 Appendix F: RICC Survey Results ............................................................................................... 62 Appendix G: HRI Paper ................................................................................................................ 65 Code of Ethics for Robotics Engineers 4 Introduction There currently exists no governing body devoted solely to professional robotics engineers, nor a code of ethics to govern their behavior. Robotics engineering is a rapidly growing field with many unique aspects that will undoubtedly lead to ethical situations not addressed in existing engineering ethical codes. These unique aspects mainly arise from the characteristic ability of robots to judge an environment and act on those judgments, a capability unique to the products of robotics engineers. In order to address these unique facets of robotics engineering, a formal, written code of ethics was created with similar goals to those of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). This project aimed to create a code of ethics for robotics engineers in a format similar to that of the ACM and IEEE, while addressing the aspects unique to robotics engineering. This code needed to take into account the fact that the robotics industry is rapidly growing in many different directions. Engineers dealing with robotics have only the codes from other disciplines to follow, which may not adequately address the ethical issues that will undoubtedly arise in robotics engineering. In the last several years, the field of roboethics, the ethics of robotics, has emerged, but no comprehensive set of ethical guidelines has yet been created to address robotic engineering. The target audience of this code is robotics engineers, engineers working with robotics, as well as students and professors studying robotics. While this is the target audience, the code is also able to be understood by the layperson, so that the public can know what the ethical standards for robotics engineers are. As such, the creation of this code took into account the thoughts and views of a wide range of people in the form of surveys and discussions. Research into past work involving professional ethics and past conferences on robot ethics, as well as the current and projected state of robotics was also used in the creation of this code. A first draft of the code was written in October of 2009, at which point it was presented to the target audiences for critique through discussions. These critiques were then taken into account in revising the code multiple times. Before the final version was completed, the code was sent to various industry professionals for their input. A short paper about the creation of the code was presented at the ACM/IEEE Human Robot Interaction conference in Osaka, Japan in March Code of Ethics for Robotics Engineers 5 2010. The robotics engineering fraternity on campus, Rho Beta Epsilon, was interested in the possibility of adoption, and the code will be hosted on the Illinois Institute of Technology website's list of ethical codes in the professions. Revisions of the code will continue for some time and the group is expected to present at a conference on Roboethics at WPI in April 2010. Code of Ethics for Robotics Engineers 6 Literature Review Introduction Ethical codes are found across most educated professions. Professional engineers in many fields agree to these codes from their professional societies. There currently exists no governing body devoted solely to professional robotics engineers, and as such no code of ethics to govern their behavior. Robotics engineering is a rapidly growing field with many unique aspects that will undoubtedly lead to ethical situations not addressed in existing engineering ethical codes. Presently, however, there is a growing concern in this area and the field roboethics is gaining momentum. General Ethics Ethics addresses morality, whether that morality is defined by law, belief or religion. However, none of these can be correct by themselves. Emotion can lead us to do things that are ethically wrong (such as stealing out of jealousy), and though many religions hold a high ethical standard it cannot be the only constraint since there are many people who do not practice a religion and yet still understand ethical boundaries. The law cannot be the only standard of ethical behavior for a similar reason: though laws are most often designed to follow the ethics
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