DPU

Aarhus Universitets segl

Roboethics and Robot Rights

Programme Wednesday March 26

Robots have expanded from being used for mechanical work in the industrial sector to be a new factor to be counted on as a companion for children in schools, as a teacher of adult education, a soother and comforter of elderly and a nurse helper in the health care sector. As yet, very few empirical studies have looked into how sociable robots transform human relations and how human relations transform robots.

On the 26th, robot researchers and philosophers will present and discuss their views on ethical and social implications of robotics.

Venue:
Dept. of Education, Campus Emdrup, Aarhus University, Room D170, Tuborgvej 164, 2400 Copenhagen NV.

Programme

10:00-10:10:
Jamie Wallace, Associate Professor at Aarhus University:Welcome and introduction

10:10-11:05:
Jennifer Robertson, Professor in Anthropology at University of Michigan: “Robot Rights vs Human Rights: Forecasts from Japan"
The possibility of robots acquiring civil status before flesh-and-blood humans raises profound questions about the nature of agency, citizenship, coexistence, and the very concept and definition of humanness.

11:05-12:00:
Finn Olesen, Associate Professor at Aarhus University: “Thinking about and acting with robots”
This presentation follows the Dutch philosopher Mark Coeckelbergh, who has argued for “...a relational approach to moral status, which sees moral status as something that emerges through relations between entities.” Hence, relationships determine how moral status is dispersed, not specie.

12:00-12:40: Lunch (there is a cantina on campus)

12:40-13:35:
Cathrine Hasse, Professor in Anthropology at Aarhus University:“Posthuman Roboethics”
The talk discusses Isaac Asimov’s three laws of Robotics. When viewed from a posthuman and spinozist perspective, the idea of an autonomous robot harming an autonomous human is senseless and thereby challenges existing roboethics.

13:35-14:30:
Raffaele Rodogno, Associate Professor at Aarhus University: “Can robots have rights?”
From a structural analysis of rights I proceed to present two major functional analyses of rights; i.e. the will theory and the interest theory. While the will theory requires that right-holders possess the capacity for a certain type of agency, the interest theory requires that right-holders be the bearer of interests. But can robots be shown to fulfill any one of these two requirements?

14.30.15.00:
Theresa Schilhab, Associate Professor at Aarhus University: Summing up the day


Presentations should be limited to 35 minutes, allowing for 20 minutes discussion.