Should we ban war robots or are they something we might want?
What can computer games tell us about our morals?
Is it OK to love a robot?
What is ethical design in the digital world?
How do we need to regulate the algorithms that impact our lives?

The digital transition puts our ideas about morality to the test, presenting us with new questions in all areas of life: politics, economy, social life, communication, entertainment. In twenty contributions, experts from Europe, America and Asia rise to the challenge of finding answers to some of the new issues confronting us.

The authors offer new perspectives on topics like robots for eldercare, autonomous vehicles, personal drones or data ethics. They present their ideas on how we, as a society, can deal with the digital challenges to our ethics and values. Their contributions provide insights into highly topical reflections on what is morally right in our digital era. Above all, they are an invitation to think and to join the discussion.

Contents

The reinvention of ethics is our job!
Introduction by Philipp Otto and Eike Gräf

Digitalization as ethical challenge
Interview with Rafael Capurro

The Mangrove society
Sharing the infosphere with artificial agents
Luciano Floridi

Sex robots and robot sex from an ethical perspective
Oliver Bendel

Necessary algorithms
Thoughts on the new techno-political conditions for cooperation and the collective
Felix Stalder

What does ethical design look like in the age of emotional malware?
Fake news, machine learning, and creating user transparency in an age of user mistrust inside large scale networks
Caroline Sinders

Personal drones and value sensitive design
David G. Hendry

The doctor will not see you now
The algorithmic displacement of virtuous medicine
Brent Mittelstadt

Building ethical robots for eldercare
Susan Leigh Anderson and Michael Anderson

The need for moral algorithms in autonomous vehicles
Ryan Jenkins

Terminator ethics: Should we ban “killer robots”?
Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer

Death, violence, sex: The matter of morals in games
Stephan Petersen and Benedikt Plass-Fleßenkämper

Skinner boxes all the way to the singularity
Tom Chatfield

The withering of freedom under law?
Blockchain, transactional security and the promise of automated law enforcement
Karen Yeung

Anthropomorphobia
Exploring the twilight area between person and product
Koert van Mensvoort

Data ethics
Developing a new business ethics
Gry Hasselbalch and Pernille Tranberg

The internet is not gender neutral
On gender ethics in internet public spaces
Hu Yong

Internet access as a human right—a step towards equality?
Interview with Kosta Grammatis

Data protection and ethics
Giovanni Buttarelli

What digitalization means for the future of our energy systems
Rafaela Hillerbrand, Christine Milchram, Jens Schippl

Of robots and humans—where is the real danger?
Interview with Kate Darling