Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ethical Decision-Making for Social Robots in Elderly Care Scenario: A Computational Approach

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Social Robotics (ICSR 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 14453 ))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 354 Accesses

Abstract

As integrating social robots in elderly care scenarios becomes increasingly prevalent, the need for ethical decision-making frameworks to govern their actions is critically important. This paper presents a comprehensive computational approach using supervised machine learning algorithms to address the ethical considerations inherent in robot-assisted fetching tasks for the elderly. Drawing upon established ethical principles and novel moral dimensions specific to elderly care, we develop an intricate framework encompassing diverse entities and scenarios using a greet or beat approach. To validate the framework, we conducted a pilot study involving thirty participants experienced in caregiving. Through an interactive application, participants designed scenarios, decided whether the robot should fetch objects, and provided reasons for their choices. Their decisions were then compared with predictions generated by a set of machine learning algorithms trained on a dataset of various scenarios. Our results shed light on the diverse ethical perspectives in elderly care and the feasibility of automating ethical decision-making for social robots in this domain. This research contributes to the burgeoning field of roboethics, offering insights and tools to guide the responsible deployment of robots in assistive elderly care, ultimately promoting the well-being and ethical treatment of elderly individuals.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Tzafestas, S.G.: Roboethics: a navigating overview. Springer, Cham (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21714-7

  2. The future of life institute’s Asilomar principles (2017) introduced principles related to safety, transparency, responsibility, and alignment with human values for AI systems. Asilomar principles for beneficial AI (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Amudhu, L.: A review on the use of socially assistive robots in education and elderly care. Materialstoday: Proceedings (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Beer, J., Liles, K., Wu, X., Pakala, S.: Affective human-robot interaction. In: Emotions and Affect in Human Factors and Human-Computer Interaction, pp. 359–381. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-801851-4.00015-X

  5. Boden, M., et al.: Principles of robotics: regulating robots in the real world. Connect. Sci. 29, 124–129 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/09540091.2016.1271400

  6. Breazeal, C., Scassellati, B.: A context-dependent attention system for a social robot. In: Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, IJCAI 1999, pp. 1146–1153. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc, San Francisco, CA (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Bynum, T., Rogerson, S.: Computer ethics and professional responsibility (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Davis, J., Nathan, L.P.: Value sensitive design: applications, adaptations, and critiques. In: van den Hoven, J., Vermaas, P., van de Poel, I. (eds.) Handbook of Ethics, Values, and Technological Design. Springer, Dordrecht (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6994-6_3-1

  9. Feil-Seifer, D., Matarid, M.: Socially assistive robotics: ethical issues related to technology. IEEE, March 2011

    Google Scholar 

  10. Frennert, S., Aminoff, H., Ostlund, B.: Technological frames and care robots in eldercare. Int. J. Soc. Robot 13, 317–325 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Gerłowska, J., Furtak-Niczyporuk, M., Rejdak, K.: Robotic assistance for people with dementia: a viable option for the future? Expert Rev. Med. Devices 17, 507–518 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Gillon, R.: Medical ethics: four principles plus attention to scope. BMJ 309, 184 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Hegel, F., Muhl, C., Wrede, B.: Understanding social robots. In: International Conferences on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions, pp. 169–174 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Huschilt, J., Clune, L.: The use of socially assistive robots for dementia care. J. Gerontol. Nurs. 38(10), 15–19 (2012). https://doi.org/10.3928/00989134-20120911-02. pMID: 22998095

  15. Ingram, B., Jones, D., Lewis, A., Richards, M., Rich, C., Schachterle, L.: A code of ethics for robotics engineers, pp. 103–104 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1145/1734454.1734493

  16. Kidd, S., Henrich, C., Brookmeyer, K., Davidson, L., King, R., Shahar, G.: The social context of adolescent suicide attempts: interactive effects of parent, peer, and school social relations. Suicide Life-threatening Behav. 36, 386–395 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1521/suli.2006.36.4.386

  17. Logan, D., et al.: Social robots for hospitalized children. Pediatrics 144, 20181511 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Martinez-Martin, E., Costa, A.: Assistive technology for elderly care: an overview. IEEE Access Pract. Innov. Open Solut. 9, 92420–92430 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Murphy, R., Woods, D.: Beyond Asimov: the three laws of responsible robotics. IEEE Intell. Syst. 24, 14–20 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1109/MIS.2009.69

  20. Olatunji, S., et al.: Improving the interaction of older adults with a socially assistive table setting robot. In: Salichs, M.A., et al. (eds.) ICSR 2019. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 11876, pp. 568–577. Springer, Cham (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35888-4_53

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  21. Oruma, S., Gkioulos, V., Hansen, J.: A systematic review on social robots in public spaces: threat landscape and attack surface. Computers 11(12), 181 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3390/computers11120181

  22. Paola, I., Walker, R., Nixon, L.: Medical Ethics and Humanities. Sudbary, Jones and Bartlett Publisher (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Qiu, R., et al.: The development of a semi-autonomous framework for personal assistant robots-SRS project. Int. J. Intell. Mechatronics Robot. 3, 30–47 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Riek, L., Howard, D.: A code of ethics for the human-robot interaction profession. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2757805. Available at SSRN

  25. Sharkey, A., Sharkey, N.: Children, the elderly, and interactive robots. IEEE Robot. Autom. 18, 32–38 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Sharkey, A., Sharkey, N.: Granny and the robots: ethical issues in robot care for the elderly. Ethics Inf. Technol. 14, 27–40 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-010-9234-6

  27. Sharkey, N.E., Sharkey, A.J.C.: The crying shame of robot nannies: an ethical appraisal. J. Interact. Stud. 11, 161–190 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Shishehgar, M., Kerr, D., Blake, J.: A systematic review of research into how robotic technology can help older people. Smart Health 7, 1–18 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Aditya, U.S., Singh, R., Singh, P., Kalla, A.: A survey on blockchain in robotics: issues, opportunities, challenges and future directions. J. Netw. Comput. Appl 196, 103245 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Veruggio, G.: Euron roboethics roadmap (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Veruggio, G., Solis, J., Loos, M.: Roboethics: ethics apllied to robotics. IEEE Robot. Autom. Magaz. 18, 21–22 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Wada, K., Shibata, T.: Social and physiological influences of living with seal robots in an elderly care house for two months (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Wallach, W., Allen, C., Smit, I.: Machine morality: bottom-up and top-down approaches for modeling human moral faculties (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Yin, J., Apuroop, K., Tamilselvam, Y., Mohan, R., Ramalingam, B., Le, A.: Table cleaning task by human support robot using deep learning technique. Sensors 20, 1698 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Yuan, F., Klavon, E., Liu, Z., Lopez, R., Zhao, X.: A systematic review of robotic rehabilitation for cognitive training. Front. Robot. AI 8, 605715 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing (IIITDM), Jabalpur, 482005, Madhya Pradesh, India

    Siri Dubbaka

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, 560012, India

    B. Sankar

Authors
  1. Siri Dubbaka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. B. Sankar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to B. Sankar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

    Abdulaziz Al Ali

  2. Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

    John-John Cabibihan

  3. Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

    Nader Meskin

  4. University of Naples Federico II, Napoli, Italy

    Silvia Rossi

  5. Qingdao University, Qingdao, China

    Wanyue Jiang

  6. The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Hongsheng He

  7. National University of Singapore, Queenstown, Singapore

    Shuzhi Sam Ge

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Dubbaka, S., Sankar, B. (2024). Ethical Decision-Making for Social Robots in Elderly Care Scenario: A Computational Approach. In: Ali, A.A., et al. Social Robotics. ICSR 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 14453 . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8715-3_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8715-3_13

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-99-8714-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-99-8715-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation