Trust in speculations: Operationalizing anticipatory robot ethics

This dissertation engages with the topic of trust in robots. It argues the need for a trust concept that recognizes the pivotal role of the speculative notions we maintain about real, non-fictional robotic artifacts. In order to contextualize this need, an ideal-type distinction is developed between four ways of approaching the topic of trust, highlighting their different facets and the way they conceive of the human relation with robots. Subsequently, a complementary approach is established, building on a conceptualization of robots as technocultural icons that invoke speculative narratives. To reinforce this approach and its ambitions, considerable efforts are dedicated to making the trust concept actionable by advancing its interdisciplinary integration through anticipatory robot ethics. The core of the cumulative dissertation, in the form of five academic publications, focuses on the development of the mentioned trust concept and subsequently on its interdisciplinary integration. Here, the need for a notion of social trust is established, while the notion of social trust is configured to fit the context of robots as objects of speculation. Building on this developed notion, I argue that trust can be fostered by exploring the sociotechnical potential of robots, positioning it as the core of an anticipatory framework for trust in robotics. Through these efforts, I work to embed ethics within key specialist domains shaping the development and implementation of robots. I do so in three different settings. In the first one, I argue for the usefulness of speculative concepts for the governance of robotics. In the second, I explain how the European Union’s anticipatory robotics and AI governance can inspire human-robot interaction (HRI) research. Third and final, I reflect on integrative ethics practices in the specific context of a project which had the aim to democratize collaborative robots. Finally, the dissertation’s discussion highlights the three cornerstones in operationalizing anticipatory ethics: the interdisciplinary integration of anticipatory ethics; the question of meaningful critique in collaborative settings; and finally the role of anticipatory conceptual thinking in technoscientific development.