Abstract

Roboethics is a branch of applied ethics interested in the ethical and social challenges of robotics and artificial intelligence. In this essay I use the science-fiction cinema to reflect in this discipline, taking into account the dual function of this genre as “mirror” of the techno-scientific avant-garde and as a “laboratory” for futuristic speculation and social influence. Among the ethical-social issues related to these technologies, I focus my efforts on analysing (1) the risk and associated security measures, (2) the inherent rights and duties, and (3) the relational consequences of the human-machine dyad. In conclusion, it should be noted that the science-fiction cinema has approached without dissimulation (with a different degree of plausibility) all these questions, which seem of the utmost urgency if we consider the bio-psycho-social impact that robotics and cybernetics already have (and will have) in our lives.

Keywords: roboethics | science-fiction | robotics | artificial intelligence | technological singularity | transhumanism