Competent moral reasoning in robot applications: Inner dialog as a step towards artificial phronesis

Abstract

Competency in moral reasoning with machines presents a complex problem. One of the authors of this work has written about the problematic nature of this project, the extensive practical knowledge deployed in competent human ethical reasoning, and the prospects of achieving artificial phronesis (AP), or artificial ethical, practical reasoning [22,24,25]. The research discussed in this chapter is ongoing and takes an important next step in developing systems that display aspects of AP. We present our preliminary tests of the robot's inner speech designed at the RoboticsLab of the University of Palermo towards developing better ethical reasoning in human-machine teams with an ethical problem to solve. We hypothesize that human-machine teams in which machines are- capable of sharing their internal reasoning process with the human user will produce more ethical outcomes than teams in which machines are incapable of sharing their inner reasoning process. Sharing of machine reasoning processes will increase warranted ethical trust from the user towards the machine.