Hardware Podcasts

Episode 148: Ethical robot behaviour - Alan Winfield

Robot Talk · 13 Mar 2026 · 38m · Episode 148

What this episode covers

Alan Winfield, Professor of Robot Ethics at the University of the West of England, discusses the development of new standards for ethics and transparency in robotics. He explains the evolution from Asimov's laws to the EPSRC principles, the necessity of an 'ethical black box' for accident investigation, and the IEC 7001 standard for measurable transparency. Winfield also details the BS 8611 ethical risk assessment framework and argues for the critical importance of 'world models' in physical robots to ensure safe interaction with humans.

Most relevant to

established companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Bristol Robotics Laboratory, University of the West of England, Cambridge Centre for the Future of Intelligence, Responsible Technology Institute, Health and Safety Executive, Office of Road Transport, BSI
Also
Isaac Asimov, EPSRC principles of robotics, IEC 7001, BS 8611, AI incidence database, Human Brain Project

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