Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences Award Report

Transcription

1 Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences Award Report Project Title: Ethical Expectations for Social Robots: A Cross-Sector Exploration Name, Department, and Degree Program: Leili Fatehi, Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy, Initiative on Governance of Emerging Technological Systems, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs Steve Kelley, Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy, Center for Integrative Leadership, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs Introduction: This project focused on identifying and better understanding the issues surrounding the responsible development and use of robots, robotic systems, and autonomous machines designed to interact with humans and the environment ( social robotics ). To serve this goal, we convened a multidisciplinary workshop on Social Robotics: Future Visions and Governance on April 5, 2013 to explore the current status and future visions ethics, law, and policy in the area of social robotics (for agenda, see Appendix 1). The workshop was well attended by an invited group of researchers and scholars from across University units, industry representatives, and other public and private stakeholders (for a list of participants, see Appendix 2). The workshop began with keynote addresses from Professor Nikolaos Papanikolopoulos, Director of the University s Center for Distributed Robotics, on the state of social robotics research at the University and from Mr. Wendell Wallach, Chair of the Technology and Ethics Research Group and Yale University s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics and author of the book Moral Machines, on opportunities and challenges in the governance of social robotics. The workshop then proceeded with panel presentations from several University researchers working in different areas of social robotics, including environmental applications, medical devices, autonomous robots, and regional economic development. After these presentations, panelists and attendees worked to identify key governance and oversight issues raised by social robotics and discussed whether and how existing governance and oversight frameworks address and effect social robotics research and development and products. Key areas raising potential governance issues included privacy, safety and liability, employment and job replacement, economic development, and ethical programming for autonomous systems. Workshop attendees then turned their attention to identifying and exploring next steps and follow up actions for studying and influencing social robotics governance, including identifying potential policy options to address oversight and governance issues and paths forward. Potential next steps identified included: developing a general regulatory framework that can handle diverse and emerging challenges in social robotics, developing a liability framework for semi- and fully-autonomous robotics systems, addressing how expectations of privacy may change as the use of social robotics expands, and identifying deficiencies in STEM education and roadblocks for growing the social robotics industry in Minnesota and the United States. Financial Summary: Award funds were used to (1) support personnel costs, including salary support for the PI, (2) cover travel expenses and honoraria for keynote speaker Wendell Wallach, and (3) cover space, services, supplies, and equipment for the April 5 workshop. A small amount of the funds were also used to pay for the PIs attendance at the 2012 Robotics Alley conference. We currently have approximately $3700 remaining of the award which we intend to use to develop a website summarizing the outcomes of the workshop and to print some hard copies of our workshop summary report.

2 Results: We have produced a summary report of the workshop on Social Robotics: Future Visions and Governance which will be publically released and disseminated both electronically and in hard copy by the project investigators and workshop attendees. The workshop report includes (1) introductory and background material on social robotics, (2) background information on some of the ethical, legal, and societal implications of social robotics, (3) a summary of the keynote and panel presentations, (4) a summary of the post-keynote and -panel discussions, (5) a summary of the key governance issues identified by workshop attendees, and (6) a summary of potential next steps and follow up actions identified by workshop attendees. The report is currently in the editing stage and has been distributed to speakers and moderators for review. Full public release of the workshop summary document is slated for early September CSTPP, in conjunction with the Initiative on Governance of Emerging Technological Systems (IGETS) and the Center for Bioethics, also sponsored and arranged for Wendell Wallach to present an additional on Navigating the Future: Governance and Ethics in the Development of Emerging Technologies to the University community and interested members of the public. This lecture was recorded and will be posted to the IGETS and Center for Bioethics websites for public access. In November 2013, PI Fatehi and two colleagues, Frank Douma from the Humphrey School and Scott Paxton from the law firm Bowman and Brooke, will be presenting as a panel at the Robotics Alley conference on legal and ethical issues associated with autonomous vehicles. Governance issues identified through this award will be used to inform the curriculum for the Spring 2014 offering of PA 5731: Emerging Technologies and Society. Future Plans: Through this award and project, CSTPP and IGETS have begun to establish a role as leaders in the area of social robotics and governance. Our plans for the future include additional programming (workshops, faculty seminars, conference presentations) around specific governance issues raised by different areas of social robotics. We also plan to continue collaborating with external partners from the region, including the robotics industry, STEM educators, and government representatives on these issues. Plans for developing new grant proposals around these topics will the subject of an IGETS faculty meeting in early fall 2013.

3 Appendix 1: Social Robotics: Future Visions and Governance Workshop Agenda Social Robotics: Future Visions and Governance --FINAL WORKSHOP AGENDA-- April 5, 2012, Minneapolis, MN Location: Carlson School of Business, Executive Center Co-Sponsored by the s Initiative on Governance of Emerging Technological Systems (igets) & Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences Morning 8:00-8:30 Continental Breakfast 8:30-8:45 Welcome Moderator: Jennifer Kuzma, Associate Professor, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota (confirmed) Laura Bloomberg, Interim Associate Dean, Humphrey School of Public Affairs and Executive Director, Center for Integrative Leadership, University of Minnesota (confirmed) 8:45-9:15 Social Robotics Research: The State of the Art at the University Moderator: Jennifer Kuzma (confirmed) Nikolaos Papanikolopoulos, Professor, Computer Science and Engineering; Director, Center for Distributed Robotics, (confirmed) 9:15-10:00 Opportunities and Challenges in Governance of Social Robotics Wendell Wallach, Lecturer and Chair, Technology and Ethics Research Group, Yale University Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics (confirmed) 10:00-10:15 Discussion/Q&A 10:15-10:30 Break 10:30-12:30 Panel: Social Robotics -- Future Visions and Governance Moderator: Francis Shen, Associate Professor, Law School; Executive Director of Research and Outreach, MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience (confirmed) Panelists: Robots in Environmental Applications -- Volkan Isler, Associate Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, (confirmed) Robotics in Medical Devices Tim Kowalewski, Richard and Barbara Nelson Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota (confirmed) Autonomous Robots -- Maria Gini, Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Computer Science, (confirmed)

4 Social Robotics: Pathways to and Issues in Commercialization -- TBD Robotics Innovation and Economic Development in the Twin Cities -- Nena Fox, Founder and CEO, Robotics Innovation, LLC (confirmed) Goals: Questions: Highlight and establish understanding of some of the potential applications and outcomes of robotics in the human environment Identify key governance and oversight issues surrounding social robotics Identify possible paths forward for social robotics governance How will social robots interact with and effect humans and the environment? How can social robotics influence how science, technology, and engineering envision and pursue societal good? What oversight and governance issues are or will be raised by social robotics? How do existing oversight and governance frameworks address and effect social robotics R&D and products? How can or should oversight and governance change to better address social robotics R&D and outcomes? 12:30-1:30 Lunch Afternoon 1:30-3:00 Small Group Discussions and Reflection Exercises Moderators: student moderators Goals: Format: Explore oversight and governance issues identified by speakers and panel, as well as identify additional ones Explore paths forward identified by speakers and panel, as well as identify additional ones Identify potential policy options to address oversight and governance issues and paths forward Participants will explore issues in small groups to provide input to the larger group 3:00-3:15 Break 3:15-4:30 Large Group Discussion and Synthesis Moderator: Leili Fatehi, Research Fellow, Humphrey School of Public Affairs and Adjunct Associate Professor, Law School, (confirmed) Goals: Facilitate discussion and reflection on how social robotics oversight and governance could and should advance Explore next steps for studying and influencing social robotics governance

5 Format: Participants will report back from their small group discussion and share individual perspectives for exploring future directions and next steps

6 Appendix 2: Social Robotics: Future Visions and Governance Workshop Participant List Mike Bazakos Associate Director, NSF IUCRC/SSR-RC Keith Braafladt Director and Instructor, Learning Technologies Center Science Museum of Minnesota Frank Douma Research Fellow and Associate Director of the State and Local Policy Program, Humphrey School of Public Affairs Research Scholar at the Center for Transportation Studies Nena Fox* Founder and CEO Robotics Innovation, LLC Maria Gini* Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Computer Science Mats Heimdahl Professor, Computer Science and Engineering Director, Software Engineering Center Volkan Isler* Associate Professor, Computer Science and Engineering Steve Kelley Senior Fellow, Center for Science, Technology and Public Policy Deputy Director, Center for Integrative Leadership Humphrey School of Public Affairs Timothy Kowalewski* Richard and Barbara Nelson Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

7 Cheryl Moeller Executive Director High Tech Kids Guillermo Narvaez Research Associate, Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center Humphrey School of Public Affairs Nikolaos Papanikolopoulos* Professor, Computer Science and Engineering Director, Center for Distributed Robotics Pankti Shah Director of Strategic Marketing The Event Group, Incorporated Scott Singer Chief Security and Information Officer PaR Systems (Corinna Wilson assistant) Joe Tojek Principal Learning Architec Cappella University AnnaMarie Vu Graduate Student Department of Psychology Wendell Wallach* Lecturer and Chair, Technology and Ethics Research Group Yale University Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics *indicates speaker Moderators: Bryan Baxter Graduate Student, Humphrey School of Public Affairs

8 Jonathan Brown Research Fellow, Humphrey School of Public Affairs Leili Fatehi Research Fellow, Humphrey School of Public Affairs Adjunct Associate Professor, Law School Jennifer Kuzma Associate Professor, Humphrey School of Public Affairs Francis Shen Associate Professor, Law School Executive Director of Research and Outreach, MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience Anders Victor Research Assistant, igets Graduate Student, Humphrey School of Public Affairs