---
title: "Robot ethics"
chunk: 3/3
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_ethics"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:24:12.612544+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Empirical research ==
There is mixed evidence as to whether people judge robot behavior similarly to humans or not. Some evidence indicates that people view bad behavior negatively and good behavior positively regardless of whether the agent of the behavior is a human or a robot; however, robots receive less credit for good behavior and more blame for bad behavior. Other evidence suggests that malevolent behavior by robots is seen as more morally wrong than benevolent behavior is seen as morally right; malevolent robot behavior is seen as more intentional than benevolent behavior. In general, people's moral judgments of both robots and humans are based on the same justifications and concepts but people have different moral expectations when judging humans and robots. Research has also found that when people try to interpret and understand how robots decide to behave in a particular way, they may see robots as using rules of thumb (advance the self, do what is right, advance others, do what is logical, and do what is normal).

== See also ==
Ethics of artificial intelligence
Plug & Pray – 2010 film by Jens Schanze
Union of Concerned Scientists – U.S.-based nonprofit organization

== References ==

== Further reading ==
Levy, David (2007). Love and Sex with Robots. Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-135975-0.
Richards, Neil M.; Smart, William D. (2013). "How should the law think about robots?". In Calo, Ryan (ed.). Robot law. doi:10.4337/9781783476732. ISBN 978-1-78347-673-2.
Jeangène Vilmer, Jean-Baptiste (2015-03-23). "Terminator Ethics: Should We Ban "Killer Robots"?". Politique Etrangère.
Danaher, John; Earp, Brian D.; Sandberg, Anders (2017). "Should we campaign against sex robots?". Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications.
Lin, Patrick; Abney, Keith; Bekey, George A. (2012). Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Robotics. MIT Press.
Tzafestas, Spyros G. (2016). Roboethics A Navigating Overview. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-21713-0.

== External links ==
PhilPapers - the standard bibliography on roboethics is on
Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group
IEEE Technical Committee on Roboethics