Robot Ethics
The 2017 Robot Ethics event took place on February 23rd at the IET Savoy Place. This year’s event focused on medical/surgical robotics and the ethical implications of their use. What are the degrees of autonomy of a medical robot? Is the company, the programmer, or the operator responsible for the robot’s performance? Can we program empathy on robots to make them feel guilty when they make a mistake? What regulations can governments impose to medical robots so that patient confidentiality, safety, and approved decision-making can be guaranteed? These were the topics addressed by two noted researchers, Prof. Guang-Zhong Yang from the Hamlyn Centre of Imperial College London, and Dr. Catherine Easton from Lancaster University. Prof. Yang, a renowned researcher in medical robotics, indicated where…