Philosophy of Social Robotics: Abundance Economics

The aim of this paper is to present conceptual resources that address social robotics from a philosophical, social, and economic perspective. Since social robotics is an emerging and potentially high-impact area, it is necessary to consider the ethics and philosophy of social robotics and its potential impact on society. Philosophical, economic, and ethical issues are addressed first generally, revealing that social robotics is most-centrally a situation of human-machine collaboration. Second, economic issues are examined more specifically, positing that social robotics might figure prominently in both an automation economy that focuses on reduced requirements for human labor and an abundance economy that targets improved human quality of life. The stakes of social robotics are high and could mean both quantitative and qualitative benefits, and take advantage of the close connection with humans to help negotiate and buffer interactions between humans and a world with an increasing and expanding presence of technology.