6 David Burke – Human-Machine Ethics: Experiments in Moral Responsibility
The success of any human-crewed interstellar mission depends on the existence of effective human-machine relationships. We anticipate that machines during such a mission won’t simply play the part of a supporting, background role, like an autopilot. Instead, navigating the demands of such a mission means that machines need to be equal ethical partners with humans, making decisions under conditions of irreducible uncertainty, in scenarios with potentially grave consequences.
The objective of our work is to identify the salient factors that would either encourage or discourage effective partnerships between humans and machines in mission-critical scenarios. Our hypothesis is that there needs to be ethical congruence between human and machine: specifically, machines must not only understand the concept of moral responsibility; they must be able to convey to humans that they will make decisions accordingly.
Recorded November 11, 2019
The success of any human-crewed interstellar mission depends on the existence of effective human-machine relationships. We anticipate that machines during such a mission won’t simply play the part of a supporting, background role, like an autopilot. Instead, navigating the demands of such a mission means that machines need to be equal ethical partners with humans, making decisions under conditions of irreducible uncertainty, in scenarios with potentially grave consequences.
The objective of our work is to identify the salient factors that would either encourage or discourage effective partnerships between humans and machines in mission-critical scenarios. Our hypothesis is that there needs to be ethical congruence between human and machine: specifically, machines must not only understand the concept of moral responsibility; they must be able to convey to humans that they will make decisions accordingly.
Recorded November 11, 2019
