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Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right from Wrong 1st Edition

by
Wendell Wallach (Author)
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Wendell Wallach (Author),
Colin Allen (Author)
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Colin Allen (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars 15 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0199737970
ISBN-10: 0199737975
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1 edition (June 3, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0199737975
  • ISBN-13: 978-0199737970
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 0.9 x 6.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #225,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsRaises problems but offers no solutions
By Courtney on August 24, 2013
Format: Paperback
This book seem to have been infected with the same disease that has ravaged the field of bioethics - the failure to grasp that specialized ethics can only proceed from a general theory of ethics. Without a clear specification of the latter, any attempt to devise ethics for robots, or for physicians, is doomed to incoherence, ambiguity, and confusion. Hence, the main problem with Moral Machines is that it lacks an attempt to reach clarity on human ethics. The book does excel in pointing out the problems with conventional thinking about robot morality, but it fails to describe solutions. The authors' suggestion of having robots acquire morality in the same way that humans do, does not solve the problem. It only guarantees that robots will be as morally confused as we are (e.g. 40% of people would save their dog's life over that of a stranger, according to a recent study at Georgia Regents University). Moreover, this approach fails to select a particular moral tradition in which to raise our robots: Lutheranism? Mormonism? Leftism? Just as we don't want robots to share common confusions about, say, surgical techniques, we don't want them similarly confused about ethics.

This book, which I nonetheless recommend, suffers from the timid, diffident, and tentative tones that afflict most academic writing. The authors seem to be part of an academic community and seek to retain membership by being minimally offensive. Who can fault them? However, this leads to excessively conventional thinking, a disappointing near-term focus, and no real discussion of the morality of hyper-intelligent robots.

If you want a good survey of current thinking on this topic, mundane as this thinking is, this book is a fine choice.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe best robot ethics text yet
By Keith A. Abney on December 19, 2008
Format: Hardcover
Allen and Wallach's Moral Machines is the best text yet in the rapidly expanding field of robot ethics - and their work offers insight into the morals of not only robots, but ourselves as well.

Wallach and Allen examine the strengths and limitations of traditional approaches to ethics, such as deontology and utilitarianism, and the issues that arise in attempting a top-down programming of such rules into a robot. But the history of ethics is replete with controversy over the adequacy of any proposed set of rules - for instance, it might seem logical to switch the track of a runaway trolley that would kill five workers, even if it would thereby kill one person on the other track - switching maximizes utility. But should a doctor then harvest organs from a patient in for a checkup to save five people in the next room needing transplants?

So what should a robot do? An alternative is to attempt a 'bottom up' approach, and teach ethics to robots by trial and error, as we do children. The authors argue that this approach has both technical and rational limitations as well; principles are especially useful in resolving the difficult moral situations we call moral dilemmas. So they argue that a hybrid approach is probably best, and discuss in thought-provoking ways whether robots would need emotions, and how human-like we should desire these robotic agents to be.

Wallach and Allen convincingly argue that even if full moral agency for machines is a long way off, it is already necessary to start instilling into robots a type of functional morality, as robots are already engaged in high-risk situations and are already equipped with lethal weapons (e.g., the Predator drones now flying in Pakistan).Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsYou need this book.
By Roger Gay on December 8, 2013
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Takes the reader through an intro to ethics and experiments in AI ethics and robotics. It's a relatively new field, stretching to the idea expressed in the title; building machines that make moral decisions and act accordingly. So if you're an programmer looking for a cookbook with a quick start guide, this won't immediately feel like your subject. On the other hand, if you're an engineer looking for the cutting edge, you can find it in this book. If you're a student, researcher, or lone wolf innovator, you might be the one to take the next important step. If you're a software developer or planning to be one, I think you should read this to be prepared for discussions that will inevitably arise during your career.
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5.0 out of 5 starsEloquent and Thought-Inspiring
By N. Coppedge on September 21, 2012
Format: Paperback
From a philosophical writer's point of view, this is one of the best-written books I've ever read. And that deserves emphasis. The writers' ingenuity in connecting the thought frameworks from networks of major concepts to another network of major concepts, and from one minor concept, and connecting to the next, or returning to a previous example, is really profound and unusual. I'm tempted to say that this book passes as poetry.

Additionally, I made copious notes and breezed through the book in less than a week. So, as non-fiction goes, yes its readable. It's also more intelligent than the average philosophy book in terms of the brilliance of interpretation and the potential to find "juicy details". Although it is not brilliant everywhere (and few books are, outside of Confucius, the Buddha, Shakespeare, Nietzsche, and perhaps Erasmus), there are reflections of brilliant thoughts on nearly every page.

Students of philosophy with an interest in entities, interfaces, and social science conundrums will love this book. I agree with the other reviewers that the significant bibliographic material is a major enhancement of the experience.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsThis is an outstanding work. the author is dead-on ...

This is an outstanding work. the author is dead-on when describing machine ethics as the ultimate di-section of ethical discourse in human terms.

Published 23 months ago by JDP
1.0 out of 5 starshuh?

I had a very difficult time keeping my eyes open while reading this book, if it had been a professor in a lecture class, it would have been one of those monotone boring ones, who... Read more

Published on June 28, 2013 by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsIs it possible for a robot to have ethics?

This book is a good summary of the difficulties that await (or are here now) future designers of robots with AI. Read more

Published on May 11, 2013 by Arthur
5.0 out of 5 starsThe best book for teaching

Although this book is accessible to a popular audience, it has obvious academic merit. The authors thoroughly search-out all perspectives in this new field (i.e. Read more

Published on July 12, 2011 by Chris Santos-Lang
4.0 out of 5 starsFascinating

I totally enjoyed this reading, though the writing style could be more lively and engaging.
Most of this is very speculative, on the edge of philosophy and science fiction,... Read more

Published on July 9, 2011 by Carnelian
3.0 out of 5 starsLimited imaginations

This book combines the ideas of leading commentators on ethics, methods of implementing AI, and the risks of AI, into a set of ideas on how machines ought to achieve ethical... Read more

Published on December 27, 2009 by Peter McCluskey
3.0 out of 5 starsMachines Better Than Humans

Wallach and Allen explore ways in which machines might emulate human moral decision making. But human morality is badly flawed and what is really needed is machines which have a... Read more

Published on February 20, 2009 by Robert Jones
3.0 out of 5 starsA Book for AI Philosophers

Having spent part of my carrier as a systems engineer in developing robotics, I was interested in where AI has come in the last 10 years or so, and this book seemed just the... Read more

Published on February 19, 2009 by D. Clough
5.0 out of 5 starsEhtics not only for robots

What strikes one most reading the book is how it informs us not merely about the challenges of creating a robot or program with moral or ethical reasoning. Read more

Published on January 25, 2009 by Michael Friedenberg

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