Robots do not currently possess ethics in the human sense: they do not independently understand right and wrong or accept moral responsibility. However, their design and use should follow ethical principles because their actions affect people and communities.
In IB Digital Society, values and ethics distinguish right from wrong, fair from unfair, just from unjust, and legal from illegal. They guide decision-making through codes, policies, rules, and laws. This SL and HL concept is syllabus topic 2.7.
A robot follows programmed instructions, learned patterns, or operational rules. Even when an autonomous system selects an action without immediate human input, its behaviour reflects human choices about training data, objectives, constraints, and deployment. Responsibility therefore extends across designers, manufacturers, operators, regulators, and users.
| Question | IB Digital Society analysis |
|---|---|
| Do robots have ethics? | They can apply programmed constraints but lack human moral understanding and responsibility. |
| Should robots behave ethically? | Yes, through safeguards based on ethical standards, despite disagreement over priorities. |
| Who is accountable? | The people and organizations that design, deploy, regulate, and use them. |
System: Waymo One uses autonomous vehicles combining sensors, data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence for driverless transport. Example specifics: Its commercial service in Phoenix is a specific real-world example; later expansion occurred after the 2022 coursebook. Impacts and implications: Passengers may gain mobility, while pedestrians and road users raise safety, transparency, and liability concerns. Future opportunities include accessibility, but unclear responsibility creates risk. Concepts: This exposes unequal power between companies and road users. Systems thinking connects software, regulation, infrastructure, and human behaviour.
A common misconception is that an autonomous robot “decides” like a person. Avoid anthropomorphism by explaining the human choices and institutions behind outputs.
In exams, distinguish programmed behaviour from moral agency and identify stakeholders. For Discuss or Evaluate, weigh competing claims and reach a supported conclusion.
