Introduction to Robotics
What is a Robot?
Objectives
- Begin thinking about ethical issues in robotics
- Reflect on chapters 1 and 2 of our textbook, The Robotic Primer, which you have already read.
- Read the first installment in the Case of the Killer Robot: http://cs.berea.edu/pearcej/courses/bottasks/KillerRobot-1.pdf
- Read the article, "What is Ethics" Developed by Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University: http://cs.berea.edu/courses/CSC126/bottasks/what_is_ethics.pdf
Create a new Microsoft Word or text document named YourUserName-A2.
In your Word document, you will answer the following questions. I recommend that you read the questions in advance so you know what to reflect upon while you're reading. Be sure to answer each question fully in complete sentences.
- In 2-3 paragraphs, summarize the main point of "What is Ethics"
and discuss your reaction to their definition of ethics. Is this
what you thought ethics were? Explain.
- Briefly summarize what happened in the first installment in the Case of the Killer Robot.
- Reflect on the industrial robot described in the first installment in the Case of the Killer Robot. Use our textbook's definition of a robot to analyze whether this robot meets all of the text's criteria for being a robot. Explain.
- Chapter 2 of our textbook introduces the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Many concerns about ethical issues arise from AI. Using the definition of ethics from the article "What is Ethics"to identity one important ethical issue you believe arises in AI. Explain both why you think this is an important ethical issue from AI and why satisfies the article's definition of what ethics is.
- Use the "What is ethics" article to list three ethical questions you believe are raised in the first installment of the Case of the Killer Robot story. For each question raised, explain why this is an ethical question according to the definition in "What is Ethics."