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  • 13 - Artificial life, artificial agents, virtual realities: technologies of autonomous agency

  • Edited by Luciano Floridi, University of Hertfordshire
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics
    Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    15 April 2010, pp 219-233

  • Summary

    This chapter discusses ethical issues arising in connection with artificial life (non carbon-based), artificial agents (physically embodied robots and software agents or 'bots') and virtual reality (VR). It gives a brief survey of the technologies involved, subdividing both artificial agents and virtual reality to produce a list of five different kinds of technology. The five kinds of technology are: anthropomorphic VR, machine-centred VR, virtual artificial agents (aka bots), embodied artificial agents, and ALife. The chapter begins by clarifying the kinds of technology to be discussed under the headings of artificial life, artificial agents and virtual reality. For artificial life, robots and software bots, there are ethical questions concerning the agency inherent in these systems themselves, whether they can be made to respect ethical boundaries, and the ways in which they may lead humanity down a path which reduces human freedom or autonomy.