Advisor: Chris Armen
Students: Nick Bazin and Jonathan Boreyko
Research Colleagues: Michael Anderson, University of Hartford; Susan Anderson, University of Connecticut.
Original Description: This work involves elements of algorithms, AI and philosophy. We are exploring the implementation of various ethical theories, with dual purposes: (1) To shed new light on these theories, which is of particular interest to philosophers, and (2) To begin to address the need for an ethical dimension in software that is becoming increasingly autonomous. The project at hand for an ISP student is to research existing and proposed software systems, particularly in the biomedical field, in order to identify the degree of autonomy achieved and hence the potential ethical component. I am working with colleagues at two other institutions, whose fields are respectively AI and philosophy.
Overview of Student Contributions: Because this is a new field, but one that spans parts of the literature of philosophy, and artificial intelligence, the previous research and other information on which we will draw is widely dispersed and will require to effort to locate. This is part of the student contribution: looking for related research, and learning about software systems that exhibit some of the characteristics (autonomy, ethical implications) in which we are interested. This in turn will require filling in some CS background on how these systems work.
Tasks: As the research proceeds, we will identify specific tasks that the students will undertake. Most of the tasks will result in some kind of written response; tasks marked "None" are background reading only, tasks marked "Informal" can be completed with some raw text notes, and tasks marked "Formal" will represent elements of the final product of the ISP.
| # | Date | Description | Response Type | Responses |
| 1 | 1/21/04 | Read current paper, as submitted to AAAI (background). | None. | |
| 2 | 1/21/04 | Look for new related work at AAAI; extend search at will. | Informal. | Jonathan AAAI - Nick AAAI |
| 3 | 1/21/04 | Study medical software candidates, looking for autonomy + ethical implications. | Formal, eventually. | Jonathan notes |
| 4 | 1/23/04 | Read "Ethics for Machines" (http://discuss.foresight.org/~josh/ethics.html) (background) | None. | Jonathan notes |
| 5 | 1/23/04 | Relevant Philosophy. (See Prof. Susan Anderson's Comments.) (background) | None. | |
| 6 | 2/9/04 | Look for more medical software candidates | Informal | |
| 7 | 2/9/04 | More detail on 3 from item #3 | Formal, eventually |
Notes on TraumAID & NeoGamesh Notes on T-IDDM & TraumAid Notes on CADIAG-II |
| 8 | 2/9/04 | More work by Nick Bostrom (His paper) | Informal | Nick notes. |
| 9 | 2/12/04 | Collection of "Machine Supervises Person" Examples | Informal, web | Collected Notes. |
| 10 | 2/16/04 | HMO expert systems allocating resources (more medical software candidates). | Informal. | |
| 11 | 2/16/04 | Asimov (background) | Any. | Jonathan notes |
| 12 | 2/16/04 | Collection of Autonomous Systems (which may or may not have identified ethical aspect) | Informal, web | Collected Notes |
| 13 | 2/16/04 | Collection of "Yeah-buts" | Informal, web | Collected Notes |
| 14 | 2/16/04 | Followup on Item 7. Questions. | Informal. | |
| 15 | 3/8/04 | Test Jeremy, writing up scenarios & results. | Informal. | |
| 16 | 3/22/04 | Article on ethics of self-modification | Informal | |
| 17 | Summary of Ross' Theory from site. | Nick's Notes | ||
| 18 | 4/2/04 | |||
| 19 | 4/2/04 | http://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/%7Efloridi/index.html | ||
| 20 | 4/2/04 | (http://www.unipv.it/webphilos_lab/ | ||
| 21 | 4/5/04 | Game development. | Prototype | |
| 22 | 4/5/04 | Background reading on biomedical ethics. |
Other Interesting Links: