How to live with robots: feeling, thinking, and acting

Abstract

In a gradual and progressive but seemingly inevitable way, the development of robotics is progressing and becoming more and more integrated into our lives. Unlike the industrial approach, conceived for closed and predictable environments, interactive robotics operates in open, complex, and chaotic environments in which the human being is at the centre of the design. This transition, from the industrial to the personal, but also to the social, expands the scope of traditional research to multiple disciplines and brings with it new ethical and technoscientific challenges. The aim of this article is precisely to map these challenges based on a dialogue with the main actors. For this purpose, on a conceptual level, we will start from a common metaphor when considering the basic dimensions of a robot, i.e., assuming that, like us, they feel, think, and act. Thus, from a multidisciplinary perspective, we will outline a narrative that shows the possibilities and limitations of this approach while illustrating its implications.