SGER: Towards Machine Ethics

关于技术与道德之间关系的研究主要集中在人类对技术的负责任和不负责任的使用上，少数人对人类应该如何对待机器感兴趣。在所有情况下，只有人类参与了伦理推理。ppi认为，至少在某些机器上加入道德维度的时机已经到来。认识到涉及机器行为的伦理后果，以及最近和潜在的机器自治发展，需要这样做。在这个项目中，pi将通过调查所谓的机器伦理来探索这个维度，机器伦理（与计算机黑客、软件财产问题、隐私问题和其他通常归属于计算机伦理的话题相比）关注的是机器对人类用户和其他机器的行为后果。显然，不加限制地依靠机器智能来改变世界可能是危险的。直到最近，机器行为的道德影响要么可以忽略不计（例如，计算器），要么只能在人类操作员的监督下进行（例如，机器人汽车组装）。随着我们越来越依赖机器智能而减少人类监督，我们将需要能够指望它们在一定程度上的道德行为。由于机器被赋予了更多的责任，如果我们要避免不受欢迎的机器行为，就必须对它们的行为承担同等程度的责任。在这个项目中，pi将在有限的领域中实现原型系统，其中一个将伦理维度纳入其优势，另一个将学习竞争责任的权重，最终为伦理理论提供决策程序。pi希望这些调查能加深他们对该领域的理解，这样他们就可以撰写一份有充分论据的立场文件，澄清机器伦理学的目标，并回答对机器伦理学的反对意见，作为处理这个自20世纪初以来一直受到关注但几乎没有严肃科学努力的问题的第一步。更广泛的影响：pi将开发一个机器伦理网站，并将组织一个暂定于2005年秋季举行的AAAI机器伦理研讨会。这项研究的结果将有助于自主智能代理的发展，这些智能代理可以用来取代人类在许多从属的、危险的或不受欢迎的任务中的努力。从长远来看，机器的道德维度可以用来提醒依赖机器的人类，在他们做出道德上有问题的事情之前，避免可能造成的伤害。这种能力可以用来帮助我们做出合乎道德的决策；机器与机器之间的关系也可能受益，因为新的功能可以为解决资源冲突或预测其他机器的行为提供基础。也许最重要的是，在道德维度的指导下，更完全自主的机器的行为，在现实环境中可能比没有道德维度的机器更容易被社会接受。

Research concerning the relationship between technology and ethics has largely focused on responsible and irresponsible use of technology by human beings, with a few people being interested in how human beings ought to treat machines. In all cases, only human beings have engaged in ethical reasoning. The PIs believe the time has come to add an ethical dimension to at least some machines. Recognition of the ethical ramifications of behavior involving machines, and recent and potential developments in machine autonomy, necessitate this. In this project, the PIs will explore this dimension through investigation of what has been called machine ethics, which (in contrast to computer hacking, software property issues, privacy issues and other topics normally ascribed to computer ethics) is concerned with the consequences of behavior of machines towards human users and other machines. Clearly, relying on machine intelligence to effect change in the world without some restraint can be dangerous. Until fairly recently, the ethical impact of a machine's actions has either been negligible (e.g., a calculator) or, when considerable, has only been taken under the supervision of a human operator (e.g., robotic automobile assembly). As we increasingly rely upon machine intelligence with reduced human supervision, we will need to be able to count on a certain level of ethical behavior from them. And as machines are given more responsibility, an equal measure of accountability for their actions must be meted out to them if we are to avoid undesirable machine behavior. In this project, the PIs will implement prototype systems in limited domains, one that incorporates an ethical dimension to its advantage, and another that learns weights of competing duties to the end of providing a decision procedure for an ethical theory. The PIs hope these investigations will sharpen their understanding of the field, so that they can compose a well-argued position paper that clarifies the objectives of and answers objections to machine ethics, as a first step towards dealing with an issue that has been of concern since the beginning of the 20th century but has seen little serious scientific effort. Broader Impacts: The PIs will develop a machine ethics website, and will organize a AAAI Machine Ethics symposium tentatively planned for fall 2005. The outcomes of this research will contribute to the development of autonomous intelligent agents that could be used to replace human effort in many subservient, dangerous, or undesirable tasks. In the longer run, an ethical dimension in machines could be used to alert humans who rely on machines before they do something that is ethically questionable, averting harm that might have been caused otherwise. Such capabilities might be harnessed to assist us in ethical decision-making; machine-machine relationships might also benefit, in that the new capabilities could provide a basis for resolving resource conflicts or predicting behavior of other machines. Perhaps most importantly, the behavior of more fully autonomous machines, guided by an ethical dimension, might be more socially acceptable in real-world environments than that of machines without such a dimension.