Condition for Employing Robotic Systems as Human Surrogate

초록

This paper discusses necessary condition for employing and utilizing a robotic system as human surrogate. It invites us thereby to a philosophical reflection on the rationality of our act of designing, manufacturing and utilizing such artifacts. If the conditions discussed here were not satisfied, recruitment and use of such system as human surrogate should be advised to be unreasonable and therefore unacceptable. An essential qualification condition for a surrogate robotic system, such as an autonomous vehicle (“level 5”), is that it should assume and apply the same taxonomy in perceiving the environment as human beings assume and apply. To satisfy this condition may not be impossible in principle, but it is very difficult. I will explain why it is so and suggest a normative stance toward this technology that considers safety and health of the public first.