Robotics and biotechnology challenge ideas about moral agency, personhood, responsibility, human nature and justice. They raise the question of whether technological capability justifies innovation or whether ethical principles should limit what humans create and modify.
Robotics
Advanced robots and artificial intelligence raise the problem of whether a non-human system can be a genuine moral agent. If an autonomous robot causes harm, responsibility may lie with the designer, manufacturer, user or robot itself.
Personhood is equally contested. Intelligent behaviour, language and apparent emotion do not prove consciousness or subjective experience. Philosophers must ask whether personhood depends on biological humanity, rationality, consciousness or social recognition.
Biotechnology
Biotechnology enables genetic selection, modification and enhancement, challenging human nature and identity. If traits can be redesigned, it becomes harder to identify which characteristics are essential to humanity or whether enhanced achievements remain authentic.
| Area | Central challenge | Guiding question |
|---|---|---|
| Robotics | Agency and responsibility | Who is blameworthy when an autonomous robot causes harm? |
| AI | Consciousness and personhood | Does intelligent behaviour demonstrate genuine understanding? |
| Genetic modification | Identity and autonomy | Can future persons consent to irreversible genetic choices? |
| Human enhancement | Justice and equality | Would unequal access create biological inequality? |
Transhumanism supports using technology to overcome biological limitations. Critics argue that enhancement could encourage eugenics, deepen inequality, undermine autonomy or treat people as designed products rather than ends in themselves.
A common misconception is that these are only scientific questions. Science explains what technology can do; philosophy examines concepts such as dignity, rights, consciousness and distributive justice, then evaluates what ought to be done.
Exam Technique
In an IB Philosophy response on philosophy and technology, formulate a precise issue, develop an argument and counterargument, and evaluate their assumptions. Do not merely list benefits and risks. Apply an example to autonomy, personhood or justice, then reach a justified conclusion.
