Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right from Wrong
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.43 (608 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0199737975 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 288 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-05-12 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Colin Allen and Wendell Wallach argue that as robots take on more and more responsibility, they must be programmed with moral decision-making abilities, for our own safety. Computers are already approving financial transactions, controlling electrical supplies, and driving trains. But the standard ethical theories don't seem adequate, and more socially engaged and engaging robots will be needed. Taking a fast paced tour through the latest thinking about philosophical ethics and artificial intelligence, the authors argue that even if full moral agency for machines is a long way off, it is already necessary to start building a kind of functional morality, in which artificial moral agents have some basic ethical sensitivity. Soon, service robots will be taking care of the elderly in their homes, and military robots will have their own targeting and firing protocols. As the authors show, the quest to build machines that are capable of telling right from wrong has begun.Moral Machines is th
Overall, this book is highly recommended reading for all those who already have an interest in the field of machine morality or for those who desire to develop an interest in the field." -- Philosophical Psychology. Highly recommended."--G. Trajkovski, CHOICE"The book does succeed in making the essential point that the phrase 'moral machine' is not an oxymoron. The conscientious reader will, no doubt, find many challenging ideas here that will require a reassessment of her own beliefs, making this text a "must read" among recent books in philosophy and, more specifically, applied ethics."--Tony Beavers, Ethics and Information Technology" Moral Machines raises a host of interesting and stimulating philosophical questions and engineering problems, and highlights likely important future debates--
"Machines Better Than Humans" according to Robert Jones. Wallach and Allen explore ways in which machines might emulate human moral decision making. But human morality is badly flawed and what is really needed is machines which have a morality which surpasses the merely human. (Theories of Value, its Origin, and Value Change, Trans. Kansas Acad. of Science, vol. 109, pg 25Machines Better Than Humans Robert Jones Wallach and Allen explore ways in which machines might emulate human moral decision making. But human morality is badly flawed and what is really needed is machines which have a morality which surpasses the merely human. (Theories of Value, its Origin, and Value Change, Trans. Kansas Acad. of Science, vol. 109, pg 254, 2006 R. Jones and Asa H: A hierarchical architecture for software agents, Trans. Kansas Acad. of Science, vol. 109, pg 159, 2006 R. Jones) Evolution has imposed on humans and other animals an economic utility (fitness) approximated by U=(N-2)/L where N is the number of offspring a pair of mammals . , 2006 R. Jones and Asa H: A hierarchical architecture for software agents, Trans. Kansas Acad. of Science, vol. 109, pg 159, 2006 R. Jones) Evolution has imposed on humans and other animals an economic utility (fitness) approximated by U=(N-2)/L where N is the number of offspring a pair of mammals . Courtney said Raises problems but offers no solutions. This book seem to have been infected with the same disease that has ravaged the field of bioethics - the failure to grasp that specialized ethics can only proceed from a general theory of ethics. Without a clear specification of the latter, any attempt to devise ethics for robots, or for physicians, is doomed to incoherence, ambiguity, and confusion. Hence, the main problem with Moral Machines is that it lacks an attempt to reach clarity on human ethics. The book does excel in pointing out the problems with conventional thinking about robot morality, but it fails to describe solutions. The authors' suggestion of. Keith A. Abney said The best robot ethics text yet. Allen and Wallach's Moral Machines is the best text yet in the rapidly expanding field of robot ethics - and their work offers insight into the morals of not only robots, but ourselves as well.Wallach and Allen examine the strengths and limitations of traditional approaches to ethics, such as deontology and utilitarianism, and the issues that arise in attempting a top-down programming of such rules into a robot. But the history of ethics is replete with controversy over the adequacy of any proposed set of rules - for instance, it might seem logical to switch the track of a runaway trolley that would kill five wo
Wendell Wallach is a consultant and writer and is affiliated with Yale University's Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics.Colin Allen is a Professor of History & Philosophy of Science and of Cognitive Science at Indiana University