Ian Kerr talks about robots and ethics on Global News

Imagine a future where a robot could tend to you in old age. A humanoid machine equal parts caregiver and companion who’d live in your home, prepare your meals, and even help you out of bed. At night, your robot gently holds your hand as you drift asleep; changing the temperature of its appendage to match your own.

It might seem like science fiction, but the race to produce robots for the consumer market is very real. And there’s more than one tech company believing in domestic robotics as the next phase in computing technology.

But robot ethicist Ian Kerr is still sceptical of a society where machine works alongside man. “What are the ethical pitfalls? What are some of the legal things we should be thinking about as well? And maybe in some of those cases, we’ll reflect and say, you know what? That application might be powerful, but we ought not to go there.”

View the newscast and article, here.