Fully autonomous or “self-driving” automobiles are vehicles “which can drive themselves without human supervision or input.” Because of improvements in driving safety and efficiency, fully autonomous vehicles are likely to become an increasing presence in our physical environment in the 5–15 year time frame. An important point is that, for the first time, people will […]

The ethics and governance of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS)—robots that can kill without direct human intervention or oversight—are the subject of active international discussions. It is imperative that we critically examine the role and nature of public engagement intended to inform decision makers. The Martens Clause, included in the additional protocols of the Geneva […]

This paper introduces the emerging subfield of privacy-sensitive robotics. It contains two in-depth surveys, one of the concept of privacy and one of robotics techniques that could be used for privacy protection. The survey of privacy begins with definitions, then outlines the history of privacy in philosophy and U.S. law. Next, an array of studies […]

A prevailing rhetoric in human-robot interaction is that automated systems will help humans do their jobs better. Robots will not replace humans, but rather work alongside and supplement human work. Even when most of a system will be automated, the concept of keeping a “human in the loop” assures that human judgment will always be […]