Machine ethics in the context of medical and care agents. (MEMCA-14): introduction to the symposium proceedings

Abstract

Robots and non-embodied artificial agents are playing increasingly prominent roles in human society. One group of application areas concerns medical treatment and care and personal and social support: treatment and care for people in hospitals, care homes and private houses and other domestic contexts – areas where artificial agents will be doing the jobs of people working in close proximity to many individuals, often the most vulnerable members of the population. Artificial agents in these applications would be fulfilling functions that routinely require interactive and affective sensitivity in human professionals, practical knowledge of many different kinds, and general ethical insight, autonomy and responsibility. Such agents, and associated smart technologies would be deployed to provide support for people who are in fragile states of health, or who have physical or cognitive disabilities of various kinds, who are very young or very old, etc. The professions involved have well-defined codes of conduct for dealing with children, old people and other vulnerable individuals, in relation to minimizing harm, responsible and safe action, privacy, informed consent, respect for personal autonomy, security, and so on. Artificial agents working in such professional contexts are likely to be required to be, or to be looked on as, ethical agents, in a rich sense of the term. However, it is a matter of debate as to when it will be appropriate to make them shoulder, or share, moral blame or credit for outcomes resulting from their actions.

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