Robotic governance provides a regulatory framework to deal with autonomous and intelligent machines. This includes research and development activities as well as handling of these machines. The idea is related to the concepts of

corporate governance Corporate governance refers to the mechanisms, processes, practices, and relations by which corporations are controlled and operated by their boards of directors, managers, shareholders, and stakeholders. Definitions "Corporate governance" may ...

, technology governance and IT-governance, which provide a framework for the management of organizations or the focus of a global IT infrastructure. Robotic governance describes the impact of

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

technology and

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

on society from a holistic, global perspective, considers implications and provides recommendations for actions in a Robot Manifesto. This is realized by th
Robotic Governance Foundation
an international

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

. The robotic governance approach is based on the German research on

discourse ethics Discourse ethics refers to a type of argument that attempts to establish normative or ethical truths by examining the presuppositions of discourse. The ethical theory originated with German philosophers Jürgen Habermas and Karl-Otto Apel, and v ...

. Therefore, the discussion should involve all Stakeholders, including scientists, society, religion, politics, industry as well as

labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s in order to reach a consensus on how to shape the future of robotics and artificial intelligence. The compiled framework, the so-called Robot Manifesto, will provide voluntary guidelines for a self-regulation in the fields of research, development as well as use and sale of autonomous and intelligent systems. The concept does not only appeal on the responsibility of researchers and robot manufacturers, but like with child labor and sustainability, also means a raising of

opportunity cost In microeconomic theory, the opportunity cost of a choice is the value of the best alternative forgone where, given limited resources, a choice needs to be made between several mutually exclusive alternatives. Assuming the best choice is made, ...

s. The greater public awareness and pressure will become concerning this topic, the harder it will get for companies to conceal or justify violations. Therefore, from a certain point it will be cheaper for organizations to invest in sustainable technologies and accepted.

History of the concept

The idea to set ethical standards for intelligent machines is not a new one and undoubtedly has its roots in science fiction literature. Even older is the discussion about ethics of intelligent, man-made creatures in general. Some of the earliest recorded examples can be found in

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

'', in Pygmalion, in the Jewish

golem A golem ( ; ) is an animated Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is created entirely from inanimate matter, usually clay or mud. The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...

mysticism (12th century) as well as in the idea of Homunkulus (Latin: little man) arisen from the alchemy of the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

. The fundamental and philosophical question of these literary works is what will happen, if humans presume to create autonomous, conscious or even godlike creatures,

machine A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromol ...

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

s or androids. While most of the older works broach the issue of the act of creation, if it is morally appropriate and which dangers could arise,

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

was the first to realize the necessity to restrict and regulate the freedom of action of machines. He wrote the first Three Laws of Robotics. At least since the use of drones equipped with air-to-ground missiles in 1995 that can be used against ground targets, like e.g., the General Atomics MQ-1, and the resulting

collateral damage "Collateral damage" is a term for any incidental and undesired death, injury or other damage inflicted, especially on civilians, as the result of an activity. Originally coined to describe military operations, it is now also used in non-milit ...

, the discussion on the international regulation of remote controlled, programmable and autonomous machines attracted public attention. Nowadays, this discussion covers the entire range of programmable, intelligent and/or autonomous machines, drones as well as automation technology combined with

Big Data Big data primarily refers to data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional data processing, data-processing application software, software. Data with many entries (rows) offer greater statistical power, while data with ...

and

. Lately, well-known visionaries like

Stephen Hawking Stephen William Hawking (8January 194214March 2018) was an English theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between ...

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

and

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...

brought the topic to the focus of public attention and awareness. Due to the increasing availability of small and cheap systems for public service as well as commercial and private use, the regulation of robotics in all social dimensions gained a new significance.

Scientific recognition

Robotic governance was first mentioned in the scientific community within a dissertation project at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

, supervised by Professor Dr. emeritus Klaus Mainzer. The topic has been the subject of several scientific workshops, symposia and conferences ever since, including the Sensor Technologies & the Human Experience 2015, the Robotic Governance Panel at the We Robots 2015 Conference, a keynote at the 10th IEEE International Conference on Self-Adaptive and Self-Organizing Systems (SASO), a full day workshop on Autonomous Technologies and their Societal Impact as part of the 2016

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

International Conference on Prognostics and Health Management (PHM’16), a keynote at the 2016 IEEE International Conference on Cloud and Autonomic Computing (ICCAC), the FAS*W 2016: IEEE 1st International Workshops on Foundations and Applications of Self* Systems, the 2016 IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Innovative Business Practices for the Transformation of Societies (IEEE EmergiTech 2016) and the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC 2016). Since 2015 IEEE even holds an own forum on robotic governance at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IEEE IROS): the first and second "Annual IEEE IROS Futurist Forum", which brought together worldwide renowned experts from a wide range of specialities to discuss the future of robotics and the need for regulation in 2015 and 2016. In 2016 Robotic governance has also been the topic of a plenary keynote presentation on the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2016) in Daejeon, South Korea. Several video statements and interviews on robotic governance, responsible use of robotics, automation technology and artificial intelligence as well as self-regulation in a world of Robotic Natives, with internationally recognized experts from research, economy and politics are published on the website of the Robotic Governance Foundation.

Max Levchin Maksymilian Rafailovych "Max" Levchin (born July 11, 1975) is a Ukrainian-American software engineer and businessman. In 1998, he co-founded the company that eventually became PayPal. Levchin made contributions to PayPal's anti-fraud efforts ...

, co-founder and former CTO of PayPal emphasized the need for robotic governance in the course of his Q&A session on the South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) 2016 in Austin and referred to the comments of his friend and colleague

on this subject. Gerd Hirzinger, former head of the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics of the German Aerospace Center, showed during his keynote speech at the IROS Futurist Forum 2015 the possibility of machines being so intelligent that it would be inevitable, one day, to prevent certain behavior. At the same event,

Oussama Khatib Oussama Khatib () is a roboticist and a professor of computer science at Stanford University, and a Fellow of the IEEE. He is credited with seminal work in areas ranging from robot motion planning and control, human-friendly robot design, to ...

, American roboticist and director of the Stanford robotics lab, advocated to emphasize the user acceptance when producing intelligent and autonomous machines. Bernd Liepert, president of the euRobotics aisbl – the most important robotics community in Europe – recommended to establish robotic governance worldwide and underlined his wish for Europe taking the lead in this discussion, during his plenary keynote at the IEEE IROS 2015 in Hamburg. Hiroshi Ishiguro, inventor of the Geminoid and head of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at the University of

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, showed during the RoboBusiness Conference 2016 in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

that it is impossible to stop technical progress. Therefore, it is necessary to accept the responsibility and to think about regulation. In the course of the same conference, Henrik I. Christensen, author of the U.S. Robotic Roadmap, underlined the importance of ethical and moral values in robotics and the suitability of robotic governance to create a regulatory framework.

References

{{reflist Robotics

History of the concept

Scientific recognition

See also

References