An Introduction to Ethics in Robotics and AI

RRI is the acronym for Responsible Research and Innovation, a key cross-cutting issue in the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 funding programme for research and innovation. RRI seeks a new relation between society, research and innovation, to better align both the process and its outcomes with the values, needs and expectations of society. RRI has been promoted as offering a response to current challenges in the research and innovation landscape that include public mistrust of science, scandals related to research misconduct, questions of scientific integrity and independence, tensions and dilemmas surrounding current patterns of industrialised scientific production, and the need for democratic input in the development of innovation and emerging technology. For the European Commission, RRI is implemented as a package that connects five so-called policy keys or priority areas, namely the take-up of research ethics and gender equality in research and innovation, the development of formal and informal science education and public engagement in science, and the pursuit of open access in scientific publications. In addition, a conceptual framework has been developed that frames RRI through four integrated dimensions—anticipation (A), inclusion (I), reflexivity (R), and responsiveness (R), the AIRR framework—that provides a scaffold for raising, discussing and responding to questions of societal concern, deemed to be characteristics of a more responsible vision of innovation. This framework has been operationalised by national funding bodies, integrated in research practice, and is referred to in this book as the RRI process dimensions. Drawing on research from the European Horizon 2020 RRI-Practice project, we examine barriers and drivers for the implementation of Responsible Research and Innovation across the RRI policy keys and process dimensions in 23 research conducting and funding organisations world-wide. In Part I, drawing on neo-institutional theory, we explore the structural, cultural and interchange dimensions of RRI implementation in organisations. In Part II, drawing on the sociotechnical imaginary concept, we analyse and compare national discourses and practices on science, technology and xi innovation (STI). In Part III, we tie Parts I and II together and reflect on commonalities and differences between the methodologies, the wider implications for international science governance and for practitioners who intend to use RRI to foster organisational change. The book uses twelve national reports from the project as its main data source.