An Evaluation Schema for the Ethical Use of Autonomous Robotic Systems in Security Applications

We propose a multi-step evaluation schema designed to help procurement agencies and others to examine the ethical dimensions of autonomous systems to be applied in the security sector, including autonomous weapons systems

The Responsibility Quantification (ResQu) Model of Human Interaction with Automation

Intelligent systems and advanced automation are involved in information collection and evaluation, in decision-making and in the implementation of chosen actions. In such systems, human responsibility becomes equivocal. Understanding human casual responsibility is particularly important when intelligent autonomous systems can harm people, as with autonomous vehicles or, most notably, with autonomous weapon systems (AWS). Using Information Theory, we develop a responsibility quantification (ResQu) model of human involvement in intelligent automated systems and demonstrate its applications on decisions regarding AWS. The analysis reveals that human comparative responsibility to outcomes is often low, even when major functions are allocated to the human. Thus, broadly stated policies of keeping humans in the loop and having meaningful human control are misleading and cannot truly direct decisions on how to involve humans in intelligent systems and advanced automation. The current model is an initial step in the complex goal to create a comprehensive responsibility model, that will enable quantification of human causal responsibility. It assumes stationarity, full knowledge regarding the characteristic of the human and automation and ignores temporal aspects. Despite these limitations, it can aid in the analysis of systems designs alternatives and policy decisions regarding human responsibility in intelligent systems and advanced automation

Flaws and myths in the case for Scottish fiscal autonomy

Paper argues that some of the claimed advantages of fiscal federalism "may not be as robust as asserted by its proponents". The incentive of retained tax revenues would be no greater under fiscal autonomy than under forms of fiscal federalism or decentralisation. It is an assumption that the return of higher tax revenues would provide an incentive to Scottish politicians to promote growth. "There is a lack of empirical evidence that the pursuit of higher revenues and expenditure is a paramount concern for sub central governments." The case for fiscal autonomy implies that local politicians are forward-looking and have low time discount rates, "not a characteristic normally associated with the practice of politics"

Should we campaign against sex robots?

In September 2015 a well-publicised Campaign Against Sex Robots (CASR) was launched. Modelled on the longer-standing Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, the CASR opposes the development of sex robots on the grounds that the technology is being developed with a particular model of female-male relations (the prostitute-john model) in mind, and that this will prove harmful in various ways. In this chapter, we consider carefully the merits of campaigning against such a technology. We make three main arguments. First, we argue that the particular claims advanced by the CASR are unpersuasive, partly due to a lack of clarity about the campaign’s aims and partly due to substantive defects in the main ethical objections put forward by campaign’s founder(s). Second, broadening our inquiry beyond the arguments proferred by the campaign itself, we argue that it would be very difficult to endorse a general campaign against sex robots unless one embraced a highly conservative attitude towards the ethics of sex, which is likely to be unpalatable to those who are active in the campaign. In making this argument we draw upon lessons from the campaign against killer robots. Finally, we conclude by suggesting that although a generalised campaign against sex robots is unwarranted, there are legitimate concerns that one can raise about the development of sex robots

Organisational exploration of human resources: the ethical pathway

Original article can be found at: http://www.inderscience.com/index.php Copyright Inderscience. DOI: 10.1504/IJHRDM.2009.025071Informed decisions regarding contemporary challenges and development of human resources must be made through the effective execution of intra-exploration. Such engagement, involvement and dialogue would result in enhanced performance. An overview of the principles and practices associated with planning, undertaking and reporting is provided. Related guidelines are propounded, offering frameworks which embrace ethical responsibilities and contain procedures which are underpinned by fundamental theoretical concepts and based upon sound ethics. These must be perceived as a social process, to be carried out with equitable, fair and honest mechanisms in relation to data collected, analysed, communicated and, thence, acted upon.Peer reviewe

The State\u27s Role in the Regulation and Provision of Legal Services in South Africa and the United States: Supporting, Nudging, or Interfering?

An independent legal profession is said to be “the bulwark of a free and democratic society.” It is also said that a high measure of independence of mind and action by legal actors is necessary for the maintenance of the rule of law. However, too often, there is the allegation (within the sociological literature in particular) that the legal profession has used the concepts of independence and the rule of law as a shield or cuirass rather than as a sword. The image of lawyers representing unpopular clients fearlessly and advocating on behalf of unpopular causes, so as to uphold legal rights, is replaced with images of lawyers using these self-same concepts to preserve the status quo, favor those with high social status and pursue self-regulation for self-interest rather than for any so-called public interest. It is against this contested terrain that this Article looks at, from a comparative perspective, regulatory efforts in both the United States and South Africa in untraditional and controversial ways to address what these countries perceive as societal failings