Ethics for Robots: How to Design a Moral Algorithm

167 Pages·2018·2.55 MB·English

by  Derek Leben

ETHICS FOR ROBOTS
Ethics for Robots describes and defends a method for designing and evaluating
ethics algorithms for autonomous machines, such as self-driving cars and search
and rescue drones. Derek Leben argues that such algorithms should be evaluated by
how effectively they accomplish the problem of cooperation among self-interested
organisms, and therefore, rather than simulating the psychological systems that have
evolved to solve this problem, engineers should be tackling the problem itself, tak-
ing relevant lessons from our moral psychology.
Leben draws on the moral theory of John Rawls, arguing that normative moral
theories are attempts to develop optimal solutions to the problem of cooperation. He
claims that Rawlsian Contractarianism leads to the ‘Maximin’ principle – the action
that maximizes the minimum value – and that the Maximin principle is the most
effective solution to the problem of cooperation. He contrasts the Maximin principle
with other principles and shows how they can often produce non-cooperative results.
Using real-world examples – such as an autonomous vehicle facing a situation
where every action results in harm, home care machines, and autonomous weap-
ons systems – Leben contrasts Rawlsian algorithms with alternatives derived from
utilitarianism and natural rights libertarianism.
Including chapter summaries and a glossary of technical terms, Ethics for Robots
is essential reading for philosophers, engineers, computer scientists, and cognitive
scientists working on the problem of ethics for autonomous systems.
Derek Leben is Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh at
Johnstown, USA.

ETHICS FOR ROBOTS
How to Design a Moral Algorithm
Derek Leben
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Derek Leben
The right of Derek Leben to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Leben, Derek, author.
Title: Ethics for robots: how to design a moral algorithm / Derek Leben.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2018. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018007376 | ISBN 9781138716155 (hbk: alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781138716179 (pbk: alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315197128 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Robotics–Moral and ethical aspects. |
Robotics–Safety measures.
Classification: LCC TJ211.28 .L43 2018 | DDC 174/.9629892–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018007376
ISBN: 978-1-138-71615-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-71617-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-19712-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Dedicated to Sean and Ethan

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction 1
1 Moral psychology 7
2 Cooperation problems 25
3 Theories 42
4 Contractarianism 59
5 Ethics engines 76
6 Avoiding collisions 97
7 Saving lives 116
8 Keeping the peace 130
Conclusions 146
Glossary 151
Index 155
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to David Danks, Jeff Maynes, and Michael Cox for helpful feedback.
And thanks to the 61B café for being a good place to write a book.
INTRODUCTION
The word robot was coined by the Czech playwright and journalist Karel Capek
in his 1920 play, Rossum’s Universal Robots. The play is about a company that cre-
ates biological human workers that don’t have a soul, so they can take over all the
jobs that humans usually do. If this idea seemed far-fetched in the 1920s, it doesn’t
seem that way today. Machines are rapidly taking over tasks that were previously
performed by humans in every domain of our society, including agriculture,
factory production, transportation, medicine, retail sales, finance, education, and
even warfare. Most of these machines have simple programs that allow them to
automatically perform a single repetitive task like welding car doors, scanning
products, or vacuuming the floor. Gradually, machines are beginning to also
take over tasks which involve weighing several different options to arrive at a
decision, like driving, diagnosing diseases, and responding to threats. Let’s call
these kinds of tasks complex. For our purposes, a robot is any physically embodied
machine that can perform complex tasks without any direct human intervention.
According to this definition, a robot doesn’t necessarily have to look like a
human. For instance, I’ll consider driverless cars and certain kinds of missile
systems to be robots. The key feature of a robot is that it is autonomous, which
means making decisions based on principles or reasoning without direct human
intervention. Autonomy has a special meaning in moral philosophy; it’s not just
being able to act in response to input (this might be called automatic), but instead,
being able to think and make decisions in a responsible way. This requires a
minimal kind of artificial intelligence, but I will consider AI to be a broader
class of systems that are not necessarily embodied and more general in the scope
of their abilities. The robots that we’re most interested in are machines that
operate dangerous vehicles or equipment, perform medical services, and provide
security. These machines will be making decisions that could result in harm to
others, which is why we need a framework for designing ethical robots.