Assistive robotics: research challenges and ethics education initiatives

Assistive robotics is a fast growing field aimed at helping healthcarers in hospitals, rehabilitation centers and nursery homes, as well as empowering people with reduced mobility at home, so that they can autonomously fulfill their daily living activities. The need to function in dynamic human-centered environments poses new research challenges: robotic assistants need to have friendly interfaces, be highly adaptable and customizable, very compliant and intrinsically safe to people, as well as able to handle deformable materials. Besides technical challenges, assistive robotics raises also ethical defies, which have led to the emergence of a new discipline: Roboethics. Several institutions are developing regulations and standards, and many ethics education initiatives include contents on human-robot interaction and human dignity in assistive situations. In this paper, the state of the art in assistive robotics is briefly reviewed, and educational materials from a university course on Ethics in Social Robotics and AI focusing on the assistive context are presented.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Cyborgs as Frontline Service Employees: A Research Agenda

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose This paper identifies and explores potential applications of cyborgian technologies within service contexts and how service providers may leverage the integration of cyborgian service actors into their service proposition. In doing so, the paper proposes a new category of ‘melded’ frontline service employees (FLEs), where advanced technologies become embodied within human actors. The paper presents potential opportunities and challenges that may arise through cyborg technological advancements and proposes a future research agenda related to these. Design/methodology This study draws on literature in the fields of services management, Artificial Intelligence [AI], robotics, Intelligence Augmentation [IA] and Human Intelligence [HIs] to conceptualise potential cyborgian applications. Findings The paper examines how cyborg bio- and psychophysical characteristics may significantly differentiate the nature of service interactions from traditional ‘unenhanced’ service interactions. In doing so, we propose ‘melding’ as a conceptual category of technological impact on FLEs. This category reflects the embodiment of emergent technologies not previously captured within existing literature on cyborgs. We examine how traditional roles of FLEs will be potentially impacted by the integration of emergent cyborg technologies, such as neural interfaces and implants, into service contexts before outlining future research directions related to these, specifically highlighting the range of ethical considerations. Originality/Value Service interactions with cyborg FLEs represent a new context for examining the potential impact of cyborgs. This paper explores how technological advancements will alter the individual capacities of humans to enable such employees to intuitively and empathetically create solutions to complex service challenges. In doing so, we augment the extant literature on cyborgs, such as the body hacking movement. The paper also outlines a research agenda to address the potential consequences of cyborgian integration

A Case for Machine Ethics in Modeling Human-Level Intelligent Agents

This paper focuses on the research field of machine ethics and how it relates to a technological singularity—a hypothesized, futuristic event where artificial machines will have greater-than-human-level intelligence. One problem related to the singularity centers on the issue of whether human values and norms would survive such an event. To somehow ensure this, a number of artificial intelligence researchers have opted to focus on the development of artificial moral agents, which refers to machines capable of moral reasoning, judgment, and decision-making. To date, different frameworks on how to arrive at these agents have been put forward. However, there seems to be no hard consensus as to which framework would likely yield a positive result. With the body of work that they have contributed in the study of moral agency, philosophers may contribute to the growing literature on artificial moral agency. While doing so, they could also think about how the said concept could affect other important philosophical concepts

Robots, Cyborgs, and Humans. A Model of Consumer Behavior in Services: A Study in the Healthcare Services Sector

La present tesi es basa en una investigació que proposa un ús futurista de l'robot i el cyborg com cirurgians oculars. El model desenvolupat investiga la intenció de l'consumidor per elegir cada cirurgià (és a dir: cirurgià robot, cirurgià cyborg o cirurgià humà). Les dades es van analitzar utilitzant la tècnica PLS-SEM. Els resultats de la investigació mostren que l'expectativa d'esforç, l'expectativa de rendiment, el risc percebut i la influència social van mostrar un impacte significatiu en la intenció d'utilitzar els serveis de l'robot cirurgià. Els resultats de el model per al cyborg cirurgià van confirmar l'impacte significatiu de l'expectativa d'esforç, l'excitació, l'expectativa de rendiment i la influència social en la intenció d'utilitzar els seus serveis. L'expectativa d'esforç i la influència social van confirmar un impacte significatiu en la intenció d'utilitzar els serveis de l'cirurgià humà. Els resultats mostren que en els tres models les variables influència social i expectativa d'esforç afecten significativament a la intenció d'utilitzar aquests serveis de cirurgia i que amb diferent intensitat entre els models per expectativa de esforç-. L'impacte de la influència social dóna una idea general sobre la naturalesa de el sector de la salut a Jordània, on una part de la societat presta més atenció a les recomanacions dels altres a l'elegir els seus cirurgians. A més, l'impacte de l'expectativa d'esforç contribueix a les expectatives per la simplicitat de l'servei dels pacients, en termes d'ús i interacció amb els cirurgians proposats. L'anàlisi multigrup va confirmar que les variables dels models estan afectant de la mateixa manera a l'comparar la intenció d'usar cyborgs i humans, i a l'comparar cyborgs i robots. No obstant això, sí que hi ha diferències significatives a l'comparar l'elecció entre robots i humans en l'impacte de l'expectativa d'esforç per utilitzar els serveis de cirurgia. D'altra banda, els participants van mostrar la seva preferència pel cirurgià humà sobre els cirurgians cyborg i robot, respectivament. Com a resultat, l'acceptació de les tecnologies de robot i cyborg per part de la societat podria donar una idea sobre la lluita esperada en el futur entre el desenvolupament de robots i la millora de les capacitats humanes.La presente tesis se basa en una investigación que propone un uso futurista del robot y el cyborg como cirujanos oculares. El modelo desarrollado investiga la intención del consumidor para elegir a cada cirujano (es decir: cirujano robot, cirujano cyborg o cirujano humano). Los datos se analizaron utilizando la técnica PLS-SEM. Los resultados de la investigación muestran que la expectativa de esfuerzo, la expectativa de rendimiento, el riesgo percibido y la influencia social mostraron un impacto significativo en la intención de utilizar los servicios del robot cirujano. Los resultados del modelo para el cyborg cirujano confirmaron el impacto significativo de la expectativa de esfuerzo, la excitación, la expectativa de rendimiento y la influencia social en la intención de usar sus servicios. La expectativa de esfuerzo y la influencia social confirmaron un impacto significativo en la intención de utilizar los servicios del cirujano humano. Los resultados muestran que en los tres modelos las variables influencia social y expectativa de esfuerzo afectan significativamente a la intención de usar esos servicios de cirugía –aunque con distinta intensidad entre los modelos para expectativa de esfuerzo-. El impacto de la influencia social da una idea general sobre la naturaleza del sector de la salud en Jordania, donde una parte de la sociedad presta más atención a las recomendaciones de los demás al elegir a sus cirujanos. Además, el impacto de la expectativa de esfuerzo contribuye a las expectativas por la simplicidad del servicio de los pacientes, en términos de uso e interacción con los cirujanos propuestos. El análisis multigrupo confirmó que las variables de los modelos están afectando de la misma manera al comparar la intención de usar cyborgs y humanos, y al comparar cyborgs y robots. Sin embargo, sí que existen diferencias significativas al comparar la elección entre robots y humanos en el impacto de la expectativa de esfuerzo para utilizar los servicios de cirugía. Por otro lado, los participantes mostraron su preferencia por el cirujano humano sobre los cirujanos cyborg y robot, respectivamente. Como resultado, la aceptación de las tecnologías de robot y cyborg por parte de la sociedad podría dar una idea sobre la lucha esperada en el futuro entre el desarrollo de robots y la mejora de las capacidades humanThe research proposes a futuristic use of robot and cyborg as surgeons in an eye surgery. Thereafter, the developed model has been applied to investigate the intention to use each surgeon (i.e. robot surgeon, cyborg surgeon, and human surgeon). The data was analyzed using the PLS-SEM technique. According to the research results, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, perceived risk, and social influence showed a significant impact on intention to use robot services. However, the results of the cyborg service model confirmed the significant impact of effort expectancy, arousal, performance expectancy, and social influence on the intention to use cyborg services. Furthermore, effort expectancy and social influence confirmed their significant impact on the intention to use human services. The results of the three models showed that the variables social influence and effort expectancy significantly affected the intention to use these surgical services, with a different intensity between the models for effort expectancy. The social influence impact gives a general idea about the nature of the healthcare sector in Jordan, where a part of society gives more attention to the recommendation from others while choosing their surgeons. Also, the effort expectancy impact contributes to patients' expectations of simplicity, in terms of use and interaction with the proposed surgeons. The multigroup analysis confirmed that the models' variables are affecting the intention to use cyborg and human service, and cyborg and robots in the same way. However, the differences were confirmed between robot and human cyborgs in terms of the impact of effort expectancy on the intention to use these services. On the other side, the participants showed their preference of the human surgeon over the cyborg and robot surgeons, respectively. As a result, the acceptance of the robot and cyborg technologies by a part of the society could give an idea about the expected struggle in the future among developing robots and enhancing human capabilities

User-centered design of a dynamic-autonomy remote interaction concept for manipulation-capable robots to assist elderly people in the home

In this article, we describe the development of a human-robot interaction concept for service robots to assist elderly people in the home with physical tasks. Our approach is based on the insight that robots are not yet able to handle all tasks autonomously with sufficient reliability in the complex and heterogeneous environments of private homes. We therefore employ remote human operators to assist on tasks a robot cannot handle completely autonomously. Our development methodology was user-centric and iterative, with six user studies carried out at various stages involving a total of 241 participants. The concept is under implementation on the Care-O-bot 3 robotic platform. The main contributions of this article are (1) the results of a survey in form of a ranking of the demands of elderly people and informal caregivers for a range of 25 robot services, (2) the results of an ethnography investigating the suitability of emergency teleassistance and telemedical centers for incorporating robotic teleassistance, and (3) a user-validated human-robot interaction concept with three user roles and corresponding three user interfaces designed as a solution to the problem of engineering reliable service robots for home environments

Human Enhancement Technologies and Our Merger with Machines

A cross-disciplinary approach is offered to consider the challenge of emerging technologies designed to enhance human bodies and minds. Perspectives from philosophy, ethics, law, and policy are applied to a wide variety of enhancements, including integration of technology within human bodies, as well as genetic, biological, and pharmacological modifications. Humans may be permanently or temporarily enhanced with artificial parts by manipulating (or reprogramming) human DNA and through other enhancement techniques (and combinations thereof). We are on the cusp of significantly modifying (and perhaps improving) the human ecosystem. This evolution necessitates a continuing effort to re-evaluate current laws and, if appropriate, to modify such laws or develop new laws that address enhancement technology. A legal, ethical, and policy response to current and future human enhancements should strive to protect the rights of all involved and to recognize the responsibilities of humans to other conscious and living beings, regardless of what they look like or what abilities they have (or lack). A potential ethical approach is outlined in which rights and responsibilities should be respected even if enhanced humans are perceived by non-enhanced (or less-enhanced) humans as “no longer human” at all