Robotics ethicist calls for stronger US guardrails as automation accelerates

Kate Darling, research lead for robotics, ethics and society at the Robotics and AI Institute, speaks with science journalist Luis Quevedo on March 3 at Talent Arena in Barcelona. Camille Tuutti

Robots are moving into warehouses and factories faster than lawmakers are updating federal rules, a mismatch one technology ethics expert said could determine the future of work more than the machines themselves.

Speaking March 3 at Talent Arena in Barcelona, Kate Darling, research lead for robotics, ethics and society at the Robotics and AI Institute, said the trajectory of automation in the U.S. will depend less on what robots can do and more on what policymakers allow companies to do with them.

“Companies aren’t rewarded for making decisions that support people or social goods,” she said. “Companies are rewarded for profit. They’re rewarded for being first to market.”

When robotics cuts labor costs or increases output ...