The case for an ethical black box

Winfield, Alan F.; Jirotka, Marina

Abstract

This paper proposes that robots and autonomous systems should be equipped with the equivalent of a Flight Data Recorder to continuously record sensor and relevant internal status data. We call this an ethical black box. We argue that an ethical black box will be critical to the process of discovering why and how a robot caused an accident, and thus an essential part of establishing accountability and responsibility. We also argue that without the transparency afforded by an ethical black box, robots and autonomous systems are unlikely to win public trust.

• Online Publication Date: Jul 20, 2017
• Publication Date: Jul 20, 2017
• Deposit Date: May 9, 2017
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 1-12
• Series Title: Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence
• Book Title: Towards Autonomous Robot Systems
• Keywords: robot ethics, ethical governance, traceability, transparency, responsible robotics, trust
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/904084
• Contract Date: May 9, 2017