On the Ethics of Symbiotic Interaction Design: No Need to Say 'Ni'

摘要

Constructive ethics aims to investigate the ethical, legal and societal implications of emerging technologies in such a way that the major concerns of the major stakeholders are addressed early on in the research and design process. To illustrate this, I will focus on the implications of symbiotic technology for a user's sense of agency and responsibility for mediated action. The distinction between something I do and something that happens to me is generally clear, but not always an easy one to make. Increasingly we are embedded in environments full of artificial 'helpers' that actively contribute to the translation of human (sub)conscious intentions into action. While displaying a behavior, a user of symbiotic technology may be uncertain about being the agent of a genuine act. Symbiotic and neuroadaptive technologies have the potential to create new and fascinating cases where the question 'who did that?' will make sense individually and societally, with consequences for the assessment of ethical and legal responsibility.