Robots in Human Life

Questions: 1. What's going on? 2. What are the facts? 3. What are the issues? 4. Who is affected? 5. What are the ethical issues and their implications? 6. What could have been done about it? 7. What are the options? 8. Which option is the best and why? Answer: 1. Development of automated machines has eased human life. With our present pace, we are just a step away from super intelligent robots that will take decisions like people. In this article, the author expresses the fear that with the advent of more evolved robots in different sectors; the autonomous machines will replace human and take crucial decisions that will not be directly controlled by a human and will shape future of humanity (Asama et al., 2013). Author instigates us to think about the implication of such advancement which will confront the profound moral quandaries (Can We Trust Robots?, 2016). The sectors such as automatic driving, self-guided missiles, and war machines are investing extensively on robots, in an effort to reduce fatigue and casualties. 2. Machines have been with a human being for quite some time and have helped in easing the tasks and are cheaper compared to the human workforce. With the advent of the advanced electronics and programming capabilities, the machines are given intelligence to think and take decisions on their own. Hence they are given the capability of deciding the future. There are many other instances, showing the developments that are being done in the field of robotics. Autonomous robots capable of moving on its own are being sent to planet exploration (Autonomous Robots to revolutionise space exploration - E T Magazine, 2016), some of the robots are delivering parcels (Deliver robots will soon invade Austin, Texas, 2016). 3. The autonomous systems, robots, are capable of taking decisions without human interference. The advanced programming methodologies and processes implemented in AI (Artificial Intelligence) have allowed machines to work more efficiently compared to a person. But the autonomy to the robots in the fields like self-driving, performing surgery, making war decisions, etc. are very crucial, as minor mistakes can create a huge impact upon humanity (Asama et al., 2013). Since the machines dont have any accountability, they cant be held responsible for any mistake committed. Hence usages of such devices are the cause of concern for all. 4. Robots are of great importance as they are capable enough to do the works that are dangerous for human. Robots dont complain and are constant, precise and fatigue free. But the advantages of the robots have turned out to be the disadvantages as the automation of factory has led to higher unemployment and make people lazy. Autonomous robots are being developed for many applications like driving, fighting wars, etc. These machines are well equipped and are capable of taking independent decisions. Making robots autonomous is a difficult decision as any glitch would result in multiple loss of life; this has been witnessed in the case of autonomous cars developed by Tesla (Car on autopilot crashes in Beijing, 2016). 5. Loss of life due to autonomous robots is a serious matter. Hence, the major moral decision the developers face is, whether to support or oppose the development of autonomous machines. The autonomous robots can take decisions on their own depending upon the environment and the programming. So the outputs are based on the environment and the versatility of the codes that drive the system. Since there is no human interference in decision making, the results can't always be expected to be in the favor of human beings. Hence there had been accidents that prove the inefficiency of such decisions. Apart from the above, absence of liability and accountability makes autonomous machines a bad option to rely upon (Sparrow, 2015). The systems that are presently working in different places are all dependent human operators. Operators behave as brain and robots act as the brawn of the scheme. The various parameters of the process are decided by the operator and are executed by robots. Since the driver is responsible for all the actions taken by him, the decisions are well accounted for any mistake. The responsibility, liability and accountability are human features that can't be incorporated in machines, and they can't be held responsible for the same (Malle et al., 2015). Therefore, human dependent systems have been more stable as compared to autonomous systems. 6. The autonomous system had been developed many years ago, and a large amount of work had been done with machine learning. Artificial Intelligence has improved machine learning and can give devices the ability to think (Goodall, 2014). This is a great achievement for humanity, but the real life situations involving lives should be not be compromised as an experiment. In his report, Coeckelbergh (2016) stated that the loss of life is inevitable but advancement will eventually lessen them, but it should be understood that human life is much more important compared to mere machine advancement. So the viable options with all the aspects have been discussed in the following sections. 7. There are many sustainable solutions for this issue (Asama et al., 2013). They are: Making system more intelligent and autonomous Autonomy of machines should be entirely revoked Human-machine integration should be developed more, and critical decisions are taken with consultation with a human operator. Critical systems shouldnt be offered autonomy 8. Among the four options of total anonymity, total dependence, human machine co-operation and autonomy out of the critical system, the best available option is to remove autonomous robots from critical systems. The critical system could be understood as the processes which involve human life. Although human-machine interaction for critical decision seems acceptable, the fine line between human-machine interaction do fail, remains susceptible to erroneous selections which could exclude human touch in case of critical situations. Hence the systems like autonomous vehicles, surgery machines, and war machines should always be supervised, to check losses that an autonomous robot could incur (Bhuta et al., 2016). References Asama, H., Fukuda, T., Arai, T., Endo, I. (Eds.). (2013).Distributed autonomous robotic systems 2. Springer Science Business Media. Autonomous Robots to revolutionise space exploration - E T Magazine. (2016). Eandt.theiet.org. Retrieved 11 August 2016, from https://eandt.theiet.org/news/2016/jul/autonomous-robot-revolutionise-space-exploration.cfm Bhuta, N., Beck, S., Gei, R., Liu, H. Y., Kre, C. (Eds.). (2016).Autonomous Weapons Systems: Law, Ethics, Policy. Cambridge University Press. Can We Trust Robots?. (2016). IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. Retrieved 11 August 2016, from https://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics/artificial-intelligence/can-we-trust-robots Car on autopilot crashes in Beijing. (2016). ABC News. Retrieved 11 August 2016, from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-10/tesla-car-on-autopilot-mode-crashes-in-beijing/7718294 Deliver robots will soon invade Austin, Texas. (2016). Mail Online. Retrieved 11 August 2016, from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3713050/Autonomous-delivery-robots-drop-pizza-laundry-door-set-invade-Austin.html Ellis, V., Loveless, A. (Eds.). (2013).ICT, pedagogy, and the curriculum: Subject to change. Routledge. Goodall, N. J. (2014). 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