Waubonsee Community College

The new breed, how to think about robots, Kate Darling

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The new breed

1242800934

Kate Darling

how to think about robots

The robots are here. They make our cars, they deliver fast food, they mine the sea floor. And in the near-future their presence will increasingly enter our homes and workplaces - making human-robot interaction a frequent, everyday occurrence. What will this future look like? What will define the relationship between humans and robots? Here Kate Darling, a world-renowned expert in robot ethics, shows that in order to understand the new robot world, we must first move beyond the idea that this technology will be something like us. Instead, she argues, we should look to our relationship with animals. Just as we have harnessed the power of animals to aid us in war and work, so too will robots supplement - rather than replace - our own skills and abilities. A deeply original analysis of our technological future and the ethical dilemmas that await us, The New Breed explains how the treatment of machines can reveal a new understanding of our own history, our own systems and how we relate - not just to non-humans, but also to each other. --, Provided by publisher

Introduction -- Author's note: What is a robot, anyway? -- Work, weaponry, responsibility. Workers trained and engineered -- Integrating the new breed -- Trespassers: Assigning responsibility for autonomous decisions -- Companionship. Robots versus toasters -- (Hu)man's best friend: The history of companion animals -- A new category of relationship -- The real issues with robot companionship -- Violence, empathy, and rights. Western animal and robot rights theories -- Free Willy: Western animal rights in practice -- Don't kick the robot -- Final thoughts: Predicting the future