Roboethics - Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability - page 93

therefore be a wider role for social robots in training and preparing children and
young people for positive interactions with others based on cooperation rather than
competition. However, it is important that, particularly in the case of autistic chil-
dren and young people, social robotics are used to support them and encourage
development of their strengths and not in an attempt to 'normalise' them or force
them to interact in particular ways.
In terms of deontological ethics, the aims of the development and introduction of
robots are generally positive and based on the application of technology to benefi t
humanity, though the approach sometimes ignores the environment and other spe-
cies and/or may be driven by the possibilities of developing the technology rather
than the benefi ts to be derived from it. With regard to utilitarianism, many of the
consequences are not foreseeable in advance. Positive utilitarianism requires careful
consideration to be given to risks and costs as well as benefi ts and negative utilitari-
anism to offsetting and mitigating present and future harms. Thus, a careful approach
is required to developments in robotics where the short- and long-term impacts are
unknown and/or it is diffi cult to determine and evaluate the risk.

7 Reducing Environmental Impacts

Since the fi rst industrial revolution, humanity, particularly in the minority world
('developed') countries, has consumed increasing amounts of natural resources and
emitted increasing volumes of pollutants into the environment. Technological
improvements have resulted in signifi cant energy and resource effi ciencies but not
suffi cient to counter the effects of continuing growth.
The use of robots affects the environment in two different ways: (1) the impacts
of robot production and use over the life cycle, which should be minimised, and (2)
changes in resource and energy requirements and emissions and waste in processes
in which robots are used.
Minimising the environmental impacts of robot production and use should
include the following:

1. Minimisation of material and energy requirements including through appropriate
design choices and effi ciency gains.
2. Minimising transportation of components and fi nished robots, e.g. by manufac-
turing robots near where they will be used with locally produced components
and, as far as possible, using local materials.
3. Minimising waste and emissions, for instance, through appropriate design and
effi ciency gains.
4. Maximising life span, for instance, through design for easy upgrading. It seems
probable that in the more demanding applications, robot hardware and software
will become dated over a period of 2-3 years, analogously to computers. In these
applications, upgrading rather than replacement will only occur if this is both
relatively easy to do and cost effective. In other applications, the robustness of