ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the ethical questions posed by robots and Artificial Intelligence (RAI). In understanding AI, two distinctions are important: general and narrow AI, and top-down and bottom-up AI. AI operates by means of algorithms, which are rules or instructions for the solution of various problems, embodied in computers. Many of the moral issues raised by RAIs can be arranged under five main headings: functionality, inherent significance, rights and responsibilities, side-effects, and threats. If a RAI is functional and there are no compelling inherent reasons against deploying it, the question arises as to whether it possesses a moral status that confers upon it rights and responsibilities. Superior performance by RAIs is something that may also be needed to outweigh the unwelcome side-effects and threats that reliance on them may also generate, such as job losses or sabotage by malicious agents.
