Robot companions and ethics a pragmatical approach of ethical design March 26th 2011, Toulouse Gerard Cornet ROBOTICS and MEDICINE—ROBOTIQUE et MEDECINE TOULOUSE Mars-March 2011 La Manufacture (21, allée de Brienne TOULOUSE)

summary Robot Companion/medecine: – from healthcare to functional empowerment of end users: assistive robots to support frailed users in their DL Activities Questioning ethical guidelines for designing robot companion for autonomy – from principles to practice ; laws& provisions adapted or obstacles ? Lessons from two Robot companion funded projects still on, targeting MCI end users – Companionable (FP7call 1 e-inclusion) – Quo Vadis(Tecsan) – Towards ethical robots for augmented frailed old humans?

Which kind of companions? Focus on assistive companions

Assistive RC for autonomy smart mechatronic interactive systems To support the frailed end users in Daily life activities compensating functionalities impairments to restore autonomy for a better quality of life of end user’s in their living place and environment : mobility, cognition, memory…compliance to medical treatment security: watch : detection and validate Critical emergency situations, to alert To facilitate social inclusion Communication and fun To allievate the proxy carers’ burden The ethical approach must consider the effects on relationship between the RC and the end user, and with proxy and Professional carers, to increase objective and subjective well being, individual and social effects Complement but different of medicine Development of blurred frontiers with bioethics?

From principles to applied ethics for autonomy Respect of individual freedom including privacy and dignity versus security: the full consent being supposed to give the solution Assessing beneficience versus maleficience and risks of robotics actions in the relation with end user Applied ethics for autonomy and social inclusion must respect and apply laws and rules, but without rising up unnecessary obstacles and complexity to research and industrial development (ICT and Ageing Report to EC 2009)

The applied ethics vision of San Clara University(California) Utility(+ and – assessment directs & side effects) of the services provided Legal( laws)> ethical committee advices Distributive justice Common sense(relevance in the context) Virtue(social value for the person)

Companionable FP7 e inclusion project call 1 Integration of mobile RC and smart home systems Ethical process according law and follow up of rules and recommendations : – Review of national laws applicable in the differents countries involved in implication and participation of end users: – full consent, – protection of personal datas – Assessment of users’needs and priorities – Assement of directs effects and side effects – Assessment and minimization of risks – Users test (following functional test to validate scenarios Applied ethics: lessons from two RC funded projects: target MCI persons

Among ethical Obstacles to be turn round Diversity of interpretation of ethics rules: the project being not a medical project, but according the target ethical committees advice has been collected recruitment and Full consent : time consuming, need detailed explanation, need for repeating at each stage of end users’involvment, understanding versus memory gap Take care that the end user’opinion abouts his or her needs and priorities may be different from the proxy carer’s Very difficult to project themselves in a worsening future with higher level of impairments Assessments of functionalities: fall detection :must use volunteer valid person to test : ethically not acceptable to ask frailed persons to fall; emotion recognition for detection of critical situations face, voice : diversity of expression in the target(culture, risk of depression ;tools being ethically acceptable for negative emotion; common basis for distress words Side effects:hypothesis not scientific evidence base such as addiction, changes in human relations deszhumanisation warning by experts ;lack of time for appropriation by end users in actuel living conditions Control of the RC by the end user versus security (watch):level of acceptability of wtach and control to be defined

Lessons Quo Vadis mobile robot companion, Security of MCI elderly and distant Cognitive stimulation+ wearable device for measure and communication of Vital datas* Validate alarm fall: analysing data fromThe Emergency Platform Agenda reminder : simplification Distant control: freedom of the users Economic accessibility: integration assesment of the range of services provided services From experimentation in Lab To experimentation in the Patient’home: taking in account the living context

Towards ethical robots Programming ethical rules for action To what extent Can the robot assess beneficience or maleficience occuring when unpredictable situations? RobotCompanion are tools empowering the user that must stay under control of the user

Ethics as a tool for global quality Iterative involvment of ends users Assessment of the relevance and accessibility of services provided by innovation, by comparison of added value with existing solution, and acceptability