Could you hate a robot? And does it matter if you could?

Helen Ryland

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
103 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This article defends two claims. First, humans could be in relationships characterised by hate with some robots. Second, it matters that humans could hate robots, as this hate could wrong the robots (by leaving them at risk of mistreatment, exploitation, etc.). In defending this second claim, I will thus be accepting that morally considerable robots either currently exist, or will exist in the near future, and so it can matter (morally speaking) how we treat these robots. The arguments presented in this article make an important original contribution to the robo-philosophy literature, and particularly the literature on human–robot relationships (which typically only consider positive relationship types, e.g., love, friendship, etc.). Additionally, as explained at the end of the article, my discussions of robot hate could also have notable consequences for the emerging robot rights movement. Specifically, I argue that understanding human–robot relationships characterised by hate could actually help theorists argue for the rights of robots.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)637-649
JournalAI & Society
Volume36
Issue number2
Early online date15 Mar 2021
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 15 Mar 2021

Keywords

  • Discrimination
  • Hate
  • Human–robot relationships
  • Robot rights

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