Article published in:
Close Engagements with Artificial Companions: Key social, psychological, ethical and design issuesEdited by Yorick Wilks
[Natural Language Processing 8] 2010
► pp. 63–74
Robots should be slaves
Robots should not be described as persons, nor given legal nor moral responsibility for their actions. Robots are fully owned by us. We determine their goals and behavior, either directly or indirectly through specifying their intelligence or how their intelligence is acquired. In humanising them, we not only further dehumanise real people, but also encourage poor human decision making in the allocation of resources and responsibility. This is true at both the individual and the institutional level. This chapter describes both causes and consequences of these errors, including consequences already present in society. I make specific proposals for best incorporating robots into our society. The potential of robotics should be understood as the potential to extend our own abilities and to address our own goals.
Published online: 24 March 2010
https://doi.org/10.1075/nlp.8.11bry
https://doi.org/10.1075/nlp.8.11bry
Cited by
Cited by 124 other publications
No author info given
2020.
In Killer Apps,
► pp. 1 ff. 
No author info given
2020.
In Killer Apps,
► pp. 29 ff.
No author info given
2020.
In Killer Apps,
► pp. 48 ff.
No author info given
2020.
In Killer Apps,
► pp. 61 ff.
No author info given
2020.
In Killer Apps,
► pp. 89 ff.
No author info given
2020.
In Killer Apps,
► pp. 109 ff.
No author info given
2020.
In Killer Apps,
► pp. 124 ff.
No author info given
2020.
In Killer Apps,
► pp. 139 ff.
No author info given
2020.
In Killer Apps,
► pp. 159 ff.
No author info given
2020.
In Killer Apps,
► pp. 175 ff.
No author info given
2020.
In Killer Apps,
► pp. 198 ff.
No author info given
2020.
In Killer Apps,
► pp. 217 ff.
No author info given
2020.
In Killer Apps,
► pp. 235 ff.
Afonso, Oscar
2021. The Oscar goes to … robots or humans? Competition in a directed technical change model with monetary policy.
Economics of Innovation and New Technology ► pp. 1 ff.
Afonso, Oscar & Rosa Forte
2021. How powerful are fiscal and monetary policies in a directed technical change model with humans and robots?.
International Journal of Finance & Economics
Andreotta, Adam J.
2021. The hard problem of AI rights.
AI & SOCIETY 36:1 ► pp. 19 ff.
Balistreri, Maurizio & Francesco Casile
2022.
In Methodologies and Intelligent Systems for Technology Enhanced Learning, 11th International Conference [Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, 326],
► pp. 210 ff.
Banks, Jaime
2020. Optimus Primed: Media Cultivation of Robot Mental Models and Social Judgments.
Frontiers in Robotics and AI 7
Banks, Jaime
2020. Theory of Mind in Social Robots: Replication of Five Established Human Tests.
International Journal of Social Robotics 12:2 ► pp. 403 ff.
Banks, Jaime & Autumn Edwards
2019.
In 2019 28th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN),
► pp. 1 ff.
Beckman, Ludvig & Jonas Hultin Rosenberg
2022. The Democratic Inclusion of Artificial Intelligence? Exploring the Patiency, Agency and Relational Conditions for Demos Membership.
Philosophy & Technology 35:2
Belk, Russell
2022. Artificial Emotions and Love and Sex Doll Service Workers.
Journal of Service Research ► pp. 109467052110636 ff.
Bertolini, Andrea & Rachele Carli
2022.
In Persuasive Technology [Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 13213],
► pp. 43 ff.
Bloom, Peter
2020.
In Identity, Institutions and Governance in an AI World,
► pp. 211 ff.
BRYSON, JOANNA J.
2012. A ROLE FOR CONSCIOUSNESS IN ACTION SELECTION.
International Journal of Machine Consciousness 04:02 ► pp. 471 ff.
Bryson, Joanna J.
2018. Patiency is not a virtue: the design of intelligent systems and systems of ethics.
Ethics and Information Technology 20:1 ► pp. 15 ff.
Cappuccio, Massimiliano L., Anco Peeters & William McDonald
2020. Sympathy for Dolores: Moral Consideration for Robots Based on Virtue and Recognition.
Philosophy & Technology 33:1 ► pp. 9 ff.
Cappuccio, Massimiliano L., Eduardo B. Sandoval, Omar Mubin, Mohammad Obaid & Mari Velonaki
2021. Can Robots Make us Better Humans?.
International Journal of Social Robotics 13:1 ► pp. 7 ff.
Cave, Stephen, Rune Nyrup, Karina Vold & Adrian Weller
2019. Motivations and Risks of Machine Ethics.
Proceedings of the IEEE 107:3 ► pp. 562 ff.
Chomanski, Bartek
2019. What’s Wrong with Designing People to Serve?.
Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 22:4 ► pp. 993 ff.
Chomanski, Bartek
2021. Liability for Robots: Sidestepping the Gaps.
Philosophy & Technology 34:4 ► pp. 1013 ff.
Chomanski, Bartlomiej
2021. If robots are people, can they be made for profit? Commercial implications of robot personhood.
AI and Ethics 1:2 ► pp. 183 ff.
Clegg, Stewart, Marco Berti, Ace Volkmann Simpson & Miguel Pina e Cunha
2020.
In Handbook of Practical Wisdom in Business and Management [International Handbooks in Business Ethics, ],
► pp. 1 ff.
Coeckelbergh, Mark
2015. The tragedy of the master: automation, vulnerability, and distance.
Ethics and Information Technology 17:3 ► pp. 219 ff.
Coeckelbergh, Mark
2018. How to describe and evaluate “deception” phenomena: recasting the metaphysics, ethics, and politics of ICTs in terms of magic and performance and taking a relational and narrative turn.
Ethics and Information Technology 20:2 ► pp. 71 ff.
Coeckelbergh, Mark
2018. Why Care About Robots? Empathy, Moral Standing, and the Language of Suffering.
Kairos. Journal of Philosophy & Science 20:1 ► pp. 141 ff.
Coeckelbergh, Mark
2021. Three Responses to Anthropomorphism in Social Robotics: Towards a Critical, Relational, and Hermeneutic Approach.
International Journal of Social Robotics
Conner, Thomas
2019. Robot Rights.
New Media & Society 21:6 ► pp. 1411 ff.
Constantinescu, Mihaela, Cristina Voinea, Radu Uszkai & Constantin Vică
2021. Understanding responsibility in Responsible AI. Dianoetic virtues and the hard problem of context.
Ethics and Information Technology 23:4 ► pp. 803 ff.
Danaher, John
2019. The Philosophical Case for Robot Friendship.
Journal of Posthuman Studies 3:1 ► pp. 5 ff.
Danaher, John
2020. Welcoming Robots into the Moral Circle: A Defence of Ethical Behaviourism.
Science and Engineering Ethics 26:4 ► pp. 2023 ff.
de Jong, Roos
2020. The Retribution-Gap and Responsibility-Loci Related to Robots and Automated Technologies: A Reply to Nyholm.
Science and Engineering Ethics 26:2 ► pp. 727 ff.
De Pagter, Jesse
2021. Speculating About Robot Moral Standing: On the Constitution of Social Robots as Objects of Governance.
Frontiers in Robotics and AI 8
Erel, Hadas, Tzachi Shem Tov, Yoav Kessler & Oren Zuckerman
2019.
In Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems,
► pp. 1 ff.
Fossa, Fabio
2018. Artificial moral agents: moral mentors or sensible tools?.
Ethics and Information Technology 20:2 ► pp. 115 ff.
Fossa, Fabio
2021. Artificial agency and the game of semantic extension.
Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 46:4 ► pp. 440 ff.
Friedman, Cindy
2020.
In Artificial Intelligence Research [Communications in Computer and Information Science, 1342],
► pp. 3 ff.
Galanter, Philip
2020. Towards Ethical Relationships with Machines That Make Art.
Artnodes :26
Giroux, Marilyn, Jungkeun Kim, Jacob C. Lee & Jongwon Park
2022. Artificial Intelligence and Declined Guilt: Retailing Morality Comparison Between Human and AI.
Journal of Business Ethics
Goldsmith, Judy & Nicholas Mattei
2014. Fiction as an Introduction to Computer Science Research.
ACM Transactions on Computing Education 14:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
Gordon, John-Stewart
2020. What do we owe to intelligent robots?.
AI & SOCIETY 35:1 ► pp. 209 ff.
Gordon, John-Stewart & Vladislav V. Fomin
2019.
In Corporate Standardization Management and Innovation [Advances in Human Resources Management and Organizational Development, ],
► pp. 177 ff.
Gunkel, David J.
2015.
In Machine Medical Ethics [Intelligent Systems, Control and Automation: Science and Engineering, 74],
► pp. 151 ff.
Gunkel, David J.
2018. The other question: can and should robots have rights?.
Ethics and Information Technology 20:2 ► pp. 87 ff.
Gunkel, David J.
2020. Mind the gap: responsible robotics and the problem of responsibility.
Ethics and Information Technology 22:4 ► pp. 307 ff.
Gunkel, David J. & Jordan Joseph Wales
2021. Debate: what is personhood in the age of AI?.
AI & SOCIETY 36:2 ► pp. 473 ff.
GÖRGÜLÜ, Ülfet & Sena AYIK
2021. Yapay Zekâ Robotlara Ahlâki ve Hukuki Statü Tanınması Problematiği İslam Ahlâkı ve Hukuku Açısından Bir Değerlendirme.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi
Hauer, Tomas
2020. Machine Ethics, Allostery and Philosophical Anti-Dualism: Will AI Ever Make Ethically Autonomous Decisions?.
Society 57:4 ► pp. 425 ff.
Hauer, Tomas
2022. Incompleteness of moral choice and evolution towards fully autonomous AI.
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 9:1
Hauskeller, Michael
2016.
In Mythologies of Transhumanism,
► pp. 181 ff.
Hawley, Scott H.
2019.
In The Transhumanism Handbook,
► pp. 271 ff.
Hermann, Isabella
2021. Artificial intelligence in fiction: between narratives and metaphors.
AI & SOCIETY
Huber, Andreas, Astrid Weiss & Marjo Rauhala
2016.
In 2016 11th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI),
► pp. 367 ff.
Jaynes, Tyler L.
2021. “I Am Not Your Robot:” the metaphysical challenge of humanity’s AIS ownership.
AI & SOCIETY
Jecker, Nancy S.
2021. Can we wrong a robot?.
AI & SOCIETY
Kempt, Hendrik
2020.
In Chatbots and the Domestication of AI [Social and Cultural Studies of Robots and AI, ],
► pp. 77 ff.
Kempt, Hendrik
2020.
In Chatbots and the Domestication of AI [Social and Cultural Studies of Robots and AI, ],
► pp. 137 ff.
Kenward, Ben & Thomas Sinclair
2021. Machine morality, moral progress, and the looming environmental disaster.
Cognitive Computation and Systems 3:2 ► pp. 83 ff.
Kubes, Tanja
2020.
In Maschinenliebe,
► pp. 163 ff.
KUKITA, Minao
2019. Robot Ethics.
Journal of Japan Society for Fuzzy Theory and Intelligent Informatics 31:5 ► pp. 133 ff.
Kukita, Minao
2020. Robot Ethics.
Journal of the Robotics Society of Japan 38:1 ► pp. 18 ff.
Law, Theresa, Meia Chita-Tegmark, Nicholas Rabb & Matthias Scheutz
2022. Examining attachment to robots: Benefits, challenges, and alternatives.
ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction
Lima, Gabriel, Chihyung Jeon, Meeyoung Cha & Kyungsin Park
2020.
In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems,
► pp. 1 ff.
Loh, Janina
2019.
In Mensch-Maschine-Interaktion,
► pp. 352 ff.
Loh, Janina
2022.
In Palgrave Handbook of Critical Posthumanism,
► pp. 1 ff.
Mamak, Kamil
2022. Should Violence Against Robots be Banned?.
International Journal of Social Robotics
Mamak, Kamil
2022. Should criminal law protect love relation with robots?.
AI & SOCIETY
Mandl, Sarah, Maximilian Bretschneider, Stefanie Meyer, Dagmar Gesmann-Nuissl, Frank Asbrock, Bertolt Meyer & Anja Strobel
2022. Embodied Digital Technologies: First Insights in the Social and Legal Perception of Robots and Users of Prostheses.
Frontiers in Robotics and AI 9
Mildenberger, Carl David
2019. Employing Robots.
Disputatio 11:53 ► pp. 89 ff.
Milinkovic, Igor
2021. The Moral and Legal Status of Artificial Intelligence (Present Dilemmas and Future Challenges).
Law and Business 1:1 ► pp. 29 ff.
Miller, Lantz Fleming
2015. Granting Automata Human Rights: Challenge to a Basis of Full-Rights Privilege.
Human Rights Review 16:4 ► pp. 369 ff.
Miller, Lantz Fleming
2020. Responsible research for the construction of maximally humanlike automata: the paradox of unattainable informed consent.
Ethics and Information Technology 22:4 ► pp. 297 ff.
Mironova, Natalia
2021. Philosophical consideration of social risks of intellectual automation of social management.
The Digital Scholar Philosopher s Lab 4:2 ► pp. 125 ff.
Mosakas, Kestutis
2021. On the moral status of social robots: considering the consciousness criterion.
AI & SOCIETY 36:2 ► pp. 429 ff.
Mowbray, Miranda
2021. Moral Status for Malware! The Difficulty of Defining Advanced Artificial Intelligence.
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 30:3 ► pp. 517 ff.
Musiał, Maciej
2019.
In Enchanting Robots [Social and Cultural Studies of Robots and AI, ],
► pp. 11 ff.
Nath, Rajakishore & Riya Manna
2021. From posthumanism to ethics of artificial intelligence.
AI & SOCIETY
Navon, Mois
2021. The Virtuous Servant Owner—A Paradigm Whose Time has Come (Again).
Frontiers in Robotics and AI 8
Nyholm, Sven & Jilles Smids
2020. Can a Robot Be a Good Colleague?.
Science and Engineering Ethics 26:4 ► pp. 2169 ff.
Ogurlu, Yucel, Rosalina V. Shagieva & Alexander S. Bersanov
2022.
In Towards an Increased Security: Green Innovations, Intellectual Property Protection and Information Security [Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, 372],
► pp. 365 ff.
Parviainen, Jaana & Mark Coeckelbergh
2021. The political choreography of the Sophia robot: beyond robot rights and citizenship to political performances for the social robotics market.
AI & SOCIETY 36:3 ► pp. 715 ff.
Peltu, Malcolm & Yorick Wilks
2008. Close Engagements with Artificial Companions: Key Social, Psychological, Ethical and Design Issues.
SSRN Electronic Journal
Prescott, Tony J.
2017. Robots are not just tools.
Connection Science 29:2 ► pp. 142 ff.
Rainey, Stephen
2016. Friends, robots, citizens?.
ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society 45:3 ► pp. 225 ff.
Remmers, Peter
2020.
In Mensch-Roboter-Kollaboration,
► pp. 55 ff.
Richardson, Kathleen
2016. Sex Robot Matters: Slavery, the Prostituted, and the Rights of Machines.
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine 35:2 ► pp. 46 ff.
Rieger, Stefan
2019.
In Handbuch Virtualität,
► pp. 1 ff.
Rieger, Stefan
2020.
In Handbuch Virtualität,
► pp. 167 ff.
Robbins, Scott
2020. AI and the path to envelopment: knowledge as a first step towards the responsible regulation and use of AI-powered machines.
AI & SOCIETY 35:2 ► pp. 391 ff.
Roed Frederiksen, Morten & Kasper Stoy
2020.
In 2020 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS),
► pp. 11376 ff.
Rogge, Ayanda & Teresa Lindenauer
2021.
In Soziale Roboter,
► pp. 557 ff.
Ryan, Mark
2021.
In Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics,
► pp. 1 ff.
Ryan, Mark, Simone van der Burg & Marc-Jeroen Bogaardt
2021. Identifying key ethical debates for autonomous robots in agri-food: a research agenda.
AI and Ethics
Salles, Arleen, Kathinka Evers & Michele Farisco
2020. Anthropomorphism in AI.
AJOB Neuroscience 11:2 ► pp. 88 ff.
Scheessele, Michael R.
2022. The hard limit on human nonanthropocentrism.
AI & SOCIETY 37:1 ► pp. 49 ff.
Scheutz, Matthias & Thomas Arnold
2016. Feats without Heroes: Norms, Means, and Ideal Robotic Action.
Frontiers in Robotics and AI 3
Segun, Samuel T.
2021. From machine ethics to computational ethics.
AI & SOCIETY 36:1 ► pp. 263 ff.
Serholt, Sofia, Sara Ekström, Dennis Küster, Sara Ljungblad & Lena Pareto
2022. Comparing a Robot Tutee to a Human Tutee in a Learning-By-Teaching Scenario with Children.
Frontiers in Robotics and AI 9
Smids, Jilles
2020. Danaher’s Ethical Behaviourism: An Adequate Guide to Assessing the Moral Status of a Robot?.
Science and Engineering Ethics 26:5 ► pp. 2849 ff.
Solaiman, S. M.
2017. Legal personality of robots, corporations, idols and chimpanzees: a quest for legitimacy.
Artificial Intelligence and Law 25:2 ► pp. 155 ff.
Sotala, Kaj & Roman V Yampolskiy
2015. Responses to catastrophic AGI risk: a survey.
Physica Scripta 90:1 ► pp. 018001 ff.
Sparrow, Robert
2020. Do Robots Have Race?: Race, Social Construction, and HRI.
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine 27:3 ► pp. 144 ff.
Sparrow, Robert
2020. Robotics Has a Race Problem.
Science, Technology, & Human Values 45:3 ► pp. 538 ff.
Stenseke, Jakob
2021. Artificial virtuous agents: from theory to machine implementation.
AI & SOCIETY
Strasser, Anna
2021. Distributed responsibility in human–machine interactions.
AI and Ethics
Sweeney, Paula
2021. A fictional dualism model of social robots.
Ethics and Information Technology 23:3 ► pp. 465 ff.
Sætra, Henrik Skaug
2021. Challenging the Neo-Anthropocentric Relational Approach to Robot Rights.
Frontiers in Robotics and AI 8
Sætra, Henrik Skaug
2021. Loving robots changing love: Towards a practical deficiency-love.
Journal of Future Robot Life ► pp. 1 ff.
Thurston, Thomas
2011. SLAVERY: ANNUAL BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SUPPLEMENT (2010).
Slavery & Abolition 32:4 ► pp. 607 ff.
Traue, Harald, Frank Ohl, André Brechmann, Friedhelm Schwenker, Henrik Kessler, Kerstin Limbrecht, Holger Hoffmann, Stefan Scherer, Michael Kotzyba, Andreas Scheck & Steffen Walter
2013.
In Coverbal Synchrony in Human-Machine Interaction,
► pp. 99 ff.
Verdicchio, Mario & Andrea Perin
2022. When Doctors and AI Interact: on Human Responsibility for Artificial Risks.
Philosophy & Technology 35:1
Zawieska, Karolina
2020. Disengagement with ethics in robotics as a tacit form of dehumanisation.
AI & SOCIETY 35:4 ► pp. 869 ff.
Zebrowski, Robin L.
2020. Fear of a Bot Planet: Anthropomorphism, Humanoid Embodiment, and Machine Consciousness.
Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness 07:01 ► pp. 119 ff.
Zhu, Jichen, Jennifer Villareale, Nithesh Javvaji, Sebastian Risi, Mathias Löwe, Rush Weigelt & Casper Harteveld
2021.
In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems,
► pp. 1 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 10 may 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.