Robot ethics: the ethical and social implications of robotics

Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies, 2020

Significant questions confront Buddhist traditions in the wake of emergent technologies: can the human body be configured in a certain way, such that it reveals a new world or environment to inhabit beyond optimized self-preservation or survival? Can we manipulate our bodies with technologies-inhibited (or enhanced) by a chemical, a trauma, a contemplative technique, or an implant-such that we are reoriented to a transformed and liberating understanding of the nature of the world and our being in it? As new technologies enhance certain domains of cognitive performance by modelling and extending the structure and capacities of cognition, Buddhism, with a theory of mind and mental development in the absence of an independent essence, owner, or agent like a self, can potentially be a valuable resource. Buddhism provides a useful theoretical foundation to articulate not only the potentials for engineering intelligence, but also by identifying problems in this project.

2020

Given our increasing interaction with artificial intelligence and immersion in virtual reality, which epistemic and moral attitudes towards virtual beings might we think proper, relevant, and fulfilling? That is the basic question that this article wishes to raise. For the main part, it presents a descriptive analysis of our current situation, which is meant to expose features of artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) that seem both salient and easily aligned with central Buddhist concerns. Developed without any requirement for, or expectation of, the existence 1 Kathmandu University Centre for Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute. Email: [email protected]. Many thanks are due to my esteemed colleagues at the Center for the Study of Apparent Selves (www.csas.ai) with whom I have the good fortune of exploring the issues that this paper takes preliminary notice of. We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Templeton World Charity Foundation. Than...

Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 2022

In this article, I will explore the debate on the ethical challenges posed by AI. I will do so by engaging in conversation with Dr. Peter Hershock who is expert in Modern Buddhism and Ethics. Dr. Hershock has recently published a landmark study on the matter called Buddhism and Intelligent Technology: Toward a More Humane Future. He argues that the main challenge that AI poses, is not technological, but ethical. And that we need to establish an ethics that will foster a shared flourishing for all on this planet if we want to resolve the predicament of value conflicts embedded in the technologically driven advancement of AI. This could be done through development of what Dr. Hershock calls virtuosic relational dynamics, a relational way of organizing our society that goes beyond individualism. To reach there, the perspectives offered by Buddhist philosophy will be discussed and explained. In conclusion, we will propose that Buddhist philosophy can offer insights and practices that may enrich our pursuit of sustainable AI ethics.

Exchanges: The Warwick Research Journal, 2022

In this article, I will explore the debate on the ethical challenges posed by AI. I will do so by engaging in conversation with Dr. Peter Hershock who is expert in Modern Buddhism and Ethics. Dr. Hershock has recently published a landmark study on the matter called Buddhism and Intelligent Technology: Toward a More Humane Future. He argues that the main challenge that AI poses, is not technological, but ethical. And that we need to establish an ethics that will foster a shared flourishing for all on this planet if we want to resolve the predicament of value conflicts embedded in the technologically driven advancement of AI. This could be done through development of what Dr. Hershock calls virtuosic relational dynamics, a relational way of organizing our society that goes beyond individualism. To reach there, the perspectives offered by Buddhist philosophy will be discussed and explained. In conclusion, we will propose that Buddhist philosophy can offer insights and practices that may enrich our pursuit of sustainable AI ethics.

Journal of Global Buddhism, 2020

When Buddhism fails to live up to the projected promise of its doctrine or past forms, it is often the human nature of its adherents (‘Bad Buddhists’), rather than the content of its teachings (‘Bad Buddhism’), that is blamed. But what if such human failings - greed, corruption, violence, even mortality - could be transcended? In the quest for a ‘good Buddhism,’ high-tech designs that utilise robotics, artificial intelligence, algorithmic agency, and other advancements are increasingly pursued as solutions by innovators inside and outside Buddhist communities. In this paper, we interrogate two recent cases of what we call ‘Buddhist techno-salvationism’. Firstly, Pepper, the semi-humanoid robot who performs funeral sutras to a rapidly secularising and aging population of parishioners in Japan. Secondly, the Lotos Network, a US start-up proposing to use blockchain technology to combat financial corruption within global sanghas. We argue that such robotic and digital experiments are the logical outcome of techno-salvationist discourses that identify human failings as the principal barrier to perfect Buddhist praxis. If not always practical solutions, these interventions are powerful nonetheless as contested projections of Buddhist futures.

Masahiro Mori is a well-known Japanese robotics scholar whose notion of Uncanny Valley is worldly famous. Mori is also an initiator of the Robot Contest and a student of Buddhism and a practitioner of Zen. He constructs his original Buddhist philosophy of robotics throughout his career. His robotics work and his learning of Buddhism develop together side by side in an interesting intertwined manner. This paper will take up the issues such as the ethical personality, quality of minds, and experiences of engineers as key components in and for an "ethi-cal design" of robots by examining Mori's Buddhist philosophy of robotics. This paper is divided into four sections. After an introductory part, in the second section, we will explore Mori's view of Zen as aspiritual source for technological creativity. In Section 3, we will examine his view into a robot-contest as a location of a realized teaching of Buddhism, especially, in relationship to the Diamond S¯ utra, in order to see Mori's educational contribution. In Section 4, we will examine how Mori became engaged to learn and practice Buddhism and came to the realization of Buddhahood in relation to robotics. " We (humans) have become entangled with very strong co-habitants of machine and technology. We need to acquire a high spiritual status to control power originating from a combination of human power and mechanical power. To learn to do so, we need to learn religion. " (M. Mori, Mori Masahiro no bukky¯ o ny¯ umon [Mori Masahiro's introduction to Buddhism], K¯ osei Shuppan, Tokyo, 2003, 168-169)

2021

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Buddhist Moral Conscience and Artificial Intelligence Consequences, 2024

The foundation teaching of Buddhism, expressed in the Four Noble Truths, is that the stress and unhappiness of life (duhkkha) is caused by our desires and ego-clinging. The notion of "Artificial Intelligence" (AI) is understood broadly as any kind of artificial computational system that shows intelligent behavior, i.e., complex behavior that is conducive to reaching goals. This intersection seeks to understand how Buddhist concepts can inform scientific theories and technological advancements in the age of Artificial Intelligence. Digital advancements and frequent application of such kind of technological inventions are become most effective tools of Artificial Intelligence. Uprooting the poisons of greed, hatred and delusion expressing them in a more positive form with compassion and wisdom can lead to a more peaceful and harmonious society. This will help to develop in emerging field at the intersection of multidisciplinary understandings in application

Culturally Sustainable Social Robotics—Proceedings of Robophilosophy , 2020

This paper explores if humanoid robots can be thought of as conscious, deserving of person rights, and even divine in a Buddhist context. What are the practical and ethical implications of the possible Buddhist claim "all humanoids have Buddha-nature"?

(Updated 11/8/2017) This article is intended as a probe into the nature of consciousness and offers a different perspective into the Buddhism-science debate on the topic. I will do so by challenging the Buddhist idea of the consciousness using some transhumanist mind-uploading thought experiments. If we apply the Buddhist notion of consciousness in a mind-uploading scenario, there are two possible outcomes. One is that we believe the original person’s consciousness continues in the designated body (whether it is a computer or an organism). The other is that we believe the consciousness does not continue in the designated body but in another lifeform according to the Karmic law. I argue that both options are problematic. This conclusion calls the Buddhist notion of consciousness into question.