The "new" new media will involve robotics, and in no small measure. Were it not for the apparently continuous trend toward wireless systematic integration, which Blue space implies and enables, robots would suffice. Rather, this new "new medium" (or media, for the parameters cannot yet be known) will be characterized by nvironmental intelligence, post graphic user interfaces (GUI), and technologies that possess varying degrees of autonomy, personality, affect- and environmentsensitive interactivity, ability to learn and “bond” with their owners, and some of them will be free-standing ambulatory dexterous informatic artefacts -- robots

The author:
Roman Onufrijchuk
School of Communication,
Simon Fraser University.

Abstract in Cognitive, Emotive and Ethical Aspects of Decision Making in Humans and in AI, Volume IV, The International Institute for Advanced Studies in Systems Research and Cybernetics, 2005.

The Author:
James Gips
Computer Science Department
Boston College

We want our robots to behave more like equals, more like ethical people. How do we program a robot to behave ethically? Well, what does it mean for a person to behave ethically? People have discussed how we ought to behave for centuries. Indeed, it has been said that we really have only one question that we answer over and over: What do I do now? Given the current situation what action should I take?

The author:
James Gips
Computer Science Department
Boston College

A central issue in any discussion of the ethical and social implications of artificial intelligence (AI) is the appropriate role of intelligent systems in the world that we are creating. Can intelligent systems potentially threaten the vitality of human consciousness? Can intelligent systems "steal" vital
capabilities and skills from humanity?

The Author:
Richard G. Epstein
Department of Computer Science
West Chester University of PA West Chester, PA 19383

MissionLab is a mission specification system that implements a hybrid deliberative and reactive control architecture for autonomous mobile robots. The user creates and executes the robot mission plans through its graphical user interface. As robot deployments become more common in highly stressful situations, such as in dealing with explosives or biohazards, the usability of their mission specification system becomes critical. To address this need, a mission-planning “wizard” has been recently integrated into MissionLab. By retrieving and adapting past successful mission plans stored in its database, this new feature is designed to simplify the user’s planning process. The latest formal usability experiments, reported in this paper, testing for usability improvements in terms of speed of the mission planning process, accuracy of the produced mission plans, and ease of use is conducted. This paper introduces the mission-planning wizard, describes the usability experiments (including design), and discusses the results in detail.

Authors:
Yoichiro Endo
Docuglas C. MacKenzie
Ronald C. Arkin

From The Famous Kapek's R.U.R. (Chapter 2)
(IT)

Grappling with the implications of an artificially intelligent culture.

(From SEEDMagazine July 16, 2007)

An Italian survey on educational robotics.(IT)

Authors
I.Boscaino Dip. Informatica Pisa
G.Capretti Dip. Informatica Pisa
F.Celi Azienda sanitaria locale
M.R.Laganà Dip. Informatica Pisa

This article investigates the commonalities between motivations and emotions as evidenced in a broad range of animal models, including humans. In particular, a focus is placed on how these models can have utility within the context of working robotic systems. Behavior-based control serves as the primary vehicle through which emotions and motivations are integrated into robots ranging from hexapods to wheeled robots to humanoids. Starting from relatively low-level organisms, such as the sowbug and praying mantis, and then
moving upward to human interactions, a progression of otivational/emotional models and robotic experiments is reported. These capture a wide set of affective phenomena including social attachment, emotional behavior in support of interspecies interaction, multiscale temporal affect, and various motivational drives such as hunger and fear.

Author:
Ron Arkin, Mobiel Robot Laboratory Georgia Institute of Technology

Past research concerning the relationship between technology and ethics has focused largely on the responsible and irresponsible uses humans make of technology; a few people have also been interested in how human beings ought to treat machines. In all cases, only the humans have engaged in ethical reasoning.

Authors:
Michael Anderson, University of Hartford
Susan Leigh Anderson, University of Connecticut