1 | Term | Definition(s) | Benefits | Drawbacks | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Computer ethics | - Maner: “ethical problems aggravated, transformed or created by computer technology” - Moor: contemplating the social and ethical use of information technology in order to inform policy - Bynum: “identifies and analyzes the impacts of information technology on such social and human values as health, wealth, work, opportunity, freedom, democracy, knowledge, privacy, security, self-fulfillment, etc.” | - can be applied to protect humanity from extinction risks - can be applied to policies aimed at the social integration of artificial entities | - focused on impacts to human society - less relevant to the moral consideration of nonhumans - has a diversity of meanings with some emphasizing policy and others emphasizing ethics | Bynum, 2004 |
3 | Machine ethics | “...concerned with ensuring that the behavior of machines toward human users, and perhaps other machines as well, is ethically acceptable” | - centers machine behavior instead of human behavior - allows for the moral consideration of machines - can be applied to protect humanity from extinction risks | - the moral consideration of humans is the primary outcome of concern - only machines’, not humans’, moral consideration of other machines is considered - less emphasis placed on institutional behavior and more emphasis on individual behavior | Anderson & Anderson, 2007; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020 |
4 | Robot ethics (“roboethics”) | focused on the ethical and social implications and consequences of advanced robotics particularly in regards to safety and errors, law and ethics, and social impact | - includes human and robot perspectives - can be applied to protect humanity from extinction risks | - applicable to robots only (material body required that can sense and act on the world) - the moral consideration of humans is more central than the moral consideration of robots | Gunkel, 2018; Lin et al., 2011; Lin et al., 2011; Scheutz, 2013 |
5 | Artificial intelligence | to understand and build intelligent entities | - well-known - encompasses many exemplars of artificial entities; broadly inclusive - encourages interdisciplinary contributions and collaborations | - also used to refer to individual entities - focused on cognitive capacities specifically around human-like intelligence defined by problem-solving and analytical thinking - has different meanings for experts and the general public - prone to hype | Russell & Norvig, 1995 |
6 | Cybernetics | the study of feedback, human behavior, and information to understand communication and control in human-machine relationships | - defined by the relationality of humans and machines - specialized focus on dynamic, feedback-based systems - safety emphasis on producing specific outputs from specific inputs | - implies material integration of humans (biological) and machines (non-biological) - machines not judged as equivalent in value to humans - less commonly used than other field names | Mindell, 2004; Wiener, 1948 |
7 | Human - computer interaction | “...a subfield within computer science concerned with the study of the interaction between people (users) and computers and the design, evaluation and implementation of user interfaces for computer systems that are receptive to the user's needs and habits. It is a multidisciplinary field, which incorporates computer science, behavioral sciences, and design. A central objective of HCI is to make computer systems more user-friendly and more usable.” | - focuses on the relationality of humans and computers - incorporates research from multiple perspectives and disciplines - does not require a robotic body that can sense and act on the world - may be more inclusive of various types of AIs (e.g., algorithms, robots) | - focuses on machines as instrumental tools - benefits of relationality are one-sided (i.e., for humans) - less emphasis on ethics or moral consideration - largely interpersonal, rather than societal, level of study and impact | Brey & Søraker, 2009 |
8 | Human - robot interaction | “...a challenging research field at the intersection of psychology, cognitive science, social sciences, artificial intelligence, computer science, robotics, engineering and human-computer interaction. A primary goal of research in this area has been to investigate ‘natural’ means by which a human can interact and communicate with a robot. Due to the embodied nature of this interaction, where robots and humans need to coordinate their activities in time and space in real-time, often ‘face-to-face’, the quality of these interactions is related to, but different from e.g. human-computer interaction (HCI).” | - focuses on the relationality of humans and robots - incorporates research from multiple perspectives and disciplines - definition emphasizes dual nature of interaction and communication | - less emphasis on ethics or moral consideration - largely interpersonal, rather than societal, level of study and impact - practice focuses on tailoring robots to suit human needs - the artificial entity must have a robotic body or material structure that can sense and act on the world | Dautenhahn, 2007 |