Publication
Exploring the Ethical Landscape of Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue
Joachim de Greeff; Ivana Kruijff-Korbayová; Maaike Habers
International Conference on Robot Ethics - ICRE 2105, 10/2015.
Abstract
Abstract:
As robots are increasingly used in Search and Rescue (SAR) missions, it becomes
highly relevant to study how SAR robots can be developed and deployed in a responsible
way. In contrast to some other robot application domains, e.g. military and healthcare, the
ethics of robot-assisted SAR are relatively under examined. This paper aims to fill this gap by
assessing and analyzing important values and value tensions of stakeholders of SAR robots.
The paper describes the outcomes of several Value Assessment workshops that were conducted
with rescue workers, in the context of a European research project on robot-assisted SAR (the
TRADR project). The workshop outcomes are analyzed and key ethical concerns and dilemmas
are identified and discussed. Several recommendations for future ethics research leading to
responsible development and deployment of SAR robots are provided.