Rebecca Roberts, Springboard: Despite the assertion by robot creators that the robots won't get out of control fears still remain about where this research may lead. I recently spoke to Philip Clayton, the chairman of the philosophy department at Sonoma State University, and began by asking how much of the intention of the creators translates into the behavior of the robots.

Philip D. Clayton: I think of the Carnegie Mellon lab where -- it is said she will not build those type of robots. She builds only positive motivation.

Rebecca Roberts, Springboard: She builds robots for the department of defense but they are non-violent robots.

Philip D. Clayton: That's right. The department of defense is not interested in building aggressive soldiers of course. Any development in technology is useful but of course it can be used in one way or the other. The one robot technology might be used to fight fires. The next one as a soldier in a future combat. Right now we can't tell the difference. And there is the moral ambiguity of robots isn't it? If I build a bridge it may be used to carry crops to market and later by an army to attack the indigenous people.

Rebecca Roberts, Springboard: What about the robots made in our own image and we respond to robots that are human-like. How does that impact this?

Philip D. Clayton: -- A huge issue. At MIT, they built Kismet with a baby face and beautiful big ears. When people talk to Kismet they actually engage with it as they would with a human infant. You can say it is only a machine. Well, that may be true, but humans are interacting bringing our emotions and sense of commitment. It is interesting an ethicist at Harvard says the robots may get far enough we have to include them within our own social community and ascribe to them the same rights as an Alzheimer’s victim or mentally handicapped child or others without our capacity.

Rebecca Roberts, Springboard: Doesn't that say more about the human interacting with the robot than the robot itself.

Philip D. Clayton: That's exactly right. When you recognize who we interact with and how we do says everything about ethics where the values issues lie. Remember in "MillenialMan" when the daughter throws the robot out of the window and Robin Williams falls to the shrubs below? That may not have injured anyone but says more about the daughter who gave the command, which is morally significant.

Rebecca Roberts, Springboard: As we have this advancement with the computing power accelerating all the time, how do we make sure that that is used for good, not evil? The advances, in fact, are advances and in fact not backward steps?

Philip D. Clayton: We have to take the ethical questions into account as we build.

I think it is tremendous that the professor is involved in holding seminars for her graduate students to talk about the ethical significance of what they do. There is a beautiful story when their robotics soccer team was beating the Japanese team mercilessly, 12-0 --

Rebecca Roberts, Springboard: Playing against each other.

Philip D. Clayton: Exactly. A miniature field, of course. And she said she felt terrible that they were wiping out the Japanese, the faces of the Japanese technicians were just dropped, they were being shamed in public and yet there was no way she could tell them, stop, stop that's far enough. She built into the routine new program that says, if you get way ahead, don't be so aggressive. That's interesting. Is it a moral issue for the soccer team? No. Is it a moral issue for the builders in a social context, yes. That's the kind of issue we need to look at.

Rebecca Roberts, Springboard: Is it the beginning of teaching a robot to have a conscious and not rub it in.

Philip D. Clayton: That's exactly the question. Some people would say the robot has a conscious and is learning, the robot has moral properties. I'm more cautious about that line of thinking but it is a matter of the humans interacting with robots and I imagine someday you tell your son do not kick your robot not because it hurts the robot, without pain sensors but something about how your son is developing and I’d say likewise for the uses of robots in society.

Rebecca Roberts, Springboard: Philip Clayton, thank you so much for being here on "Springboard."

Philip D. Clayton: Thanks, Rebecca.

Philip D. Clayton

Professor and Chair of Philosophy, California State University at Sonoma

Principal Investigator of the CTNS Science & Spiritual Quest Project

Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences