The manuscript of the book „Non-Human Animals, Ethics and Engineering“ (alternative title „Animals, Ethics and Engineering“) was sent to the publisher Jenny Stanford in May 2024. It contains 16 chapters on this topic, including by Clara Mancini („Animal-Centered Technology and Sustainable Development“), Fiona French („Designing and Crafting Systems for Non-Human Animals“), and Leonie Bossert together with Thilo Hagendorff („Animals and AI: The Role of Animals in AI Research and Application“). In “An Investigation into the Encounter Between Social Robots and Animals” (Chapter 12), Oliver Bendel “delves into the evolving landscape of social robots designed to interact with animals, dissecting the intricate dynamics of these interactions and their ethical ramifications” (Information from the editors). The philosopher of technology also presents his own projects, such as concepts and prototypes of animal-friendly machines, developed in the context of machine ethics, animal-machine interaction, and social robotics. The editors are Rosalyn W. Berne and Madeline A. Kibler from the University of Virginia. The book is scheduled for publication in late summer or fall 2024.
Fig.: A robot turtle and a woman (Image: Ideogram)
The Tenth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction will be held December 4-8, 2023, in Raleigh, North Carolina, hosted by North Carolina State University. „ACI is the leading International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction. It is a highly multidisciplinary event drawing researchers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds to share and discuss work and topics related to the research and design of computing-enabled and interactive technology for and with animals.“ (Website ACI) The Ninth International Conference on Animal-Computer Interaction was held in Newcastle upon Tyne at the end of 2022. Also this year the organizers are interested in a variety of topics in animal-computer interaction and animal-machine interaction, as the call for papers (CfP) reveals: „Submissions might address topics such as: the role of technology in shaping human-animal relationships; studies and/or analysis of large-scale technology for animal deployments; considerations on the wider context of technology for animal use; methods and reflections on studying the next generation of technology for animals; or how to conduct ACI research in a world where commercial design and deployment of technology for animals outpaces academic thought.“ (Website ACI) The CfP can be accessed at www.aciconf.org/aci2023.
Fig.: This is how DALL-E imagines a penguin with VR glasses
British Filmmaker John Downer has created artificial monkeys, wolves, hippos, turtles, alligators, etc., to observe appropriate wildlife and obtain spectacular images. His well-known robots are very intricately designed and resemble the animals they mimic in almost every detail. It is not necessary to resort to such technically elaborate and artistically demanding means for all species. USA Today reports in a recent article about a robot called ECHO. „ECHO is a remote-controlled ground robot that silently spies on the emperor penguin colony in Atka Bay. The robot is being monitored by the Single Penguin Observation and Tracking observatory. Both the SPOT observatory, which is also remote-operated through a satellite link, and the ECHO robot capture photographs and videos of animal population in the Arctic.“ (USA Today, May 6, 2022) ECHO does not resemble a penguin in any way. It is a yellow vehicle with four thick wheels. But as a video shows, the animals seem to have gotten used to it. It comes very close to them without scaring them. Wildlife monitoring using robots is becoming increasingly important, and obviously very different types are being considered.
Clara Mancini (The Open University) and Eleonora Nannoni (University of Bologna) are calling for abstracts and papers for the Frontiers research topic „Animal-Computer Interaction and Beyond: The Benefits of Animal-Centered Research and Design“. They are well-known representatives of a discipline closely related to animal-machine interaction. „The field of Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI) investigates how interactive technologies affect the individual animals involved; what technologies could be developed, and how they should be designed in order to improve animals’ welfare, support their activities and foster positive interspecies relationships; and how research methods could enable animal stakeholders to participate in the development of relevant technologies.“ (Website Frontiers) The editors welcome submissions that contribute, but are not necessarily limited, to the following themes: 1) „Applications of animal-centered and/or interactive technologies within farming, animal research, conservation, welfare or other domains“, and 2) „Animal-centered research, design methods and frameworks that have been applied or have applicability within farming, animal research, conservation, welfare or other domains Submission information is available through the website“ (Website Frontiers). More submission information is available through the Frontiers website.
Parallel to his work in machine ethics, Oliver Bendel is trying to establish animal-machine interaction (AMI) as a discipline. He was very impressed by Clara Mancini’s paper „Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI): A Manifesto“ on animal-computer interaction. In his AMI research, he mainly investigates robots, gadgets, and devices and their behavior towards animals. There are not only moral questions, but also questions concerning the design of outer appearance and the ability to speak. The general background for his considerations is that more and more machines and animals meet in closed, half-open and open worlds. He believes that semi-autonomous and autonomous systems should have rules so that they treat animals well. They should not disturb, frighten, injure or kill them. Examples are toy robots, domestic robots, service robots in shopping malls and agricultural robots. Jackie Snow, who writes for New York Times, National Geographic, and Wall Street Journal, has talked to several experts about the topic. In an article for Fast Company, she quotes the ethicists Oliver Bendel and Peter Singer. Clara Mancini is also expressing her point of view. The article with the title „AI’s next ethical challenge: how to treat animals“ can be downloaded here.
Between June 2019 and January 2020, the sixth artifact of machine ethics will be created at the FHNW School of Business. Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel is the initiator, the client and – together with a colleague – the supervisor of the project. Animal-machine interaction is about the design, evaluation and implementation of (usually more sophisticated or complex) machines and computer systems with which animals interact and communicate and which interact and communicate with animals. Machine ethics has so far mainly referred to humans, but can also be useful for animals. It attempts to conceive moral machines and to implement them with the help of further disciplines such as computer science and AI or robotics. The aim of the project is the detailed description and prototypical implementation of an animal-friendly service robot, more precisely a mowing robot called HAPPY HEDGEHOG (HHH). With the help of sensors and moral rules, the robot should be able to recognize hedgehogs (especially young animals) and initiate appropriate measures (interruption of work, expulsion of the hedgehog, information of the owner). The project has similarities with another project carried out earlier, namely LADYBIRD. This time, however, more emphasis will be placed on existing equipment, platforms and software. The first artifact at the university was the GOODBOT – in 2013.
Der Artikel „Considerations about the relationship between animal and machine ethics“ von Oliver Bendel ist im Januar 2016 in der gedruckten Version der Zeitschrift Artificial Intelligence & Society erschienen. Er stellt Tierethik und Maschinenethik in einen Zusammenhang. Im Abstract heißt es: „Ethics researches morality in respect to humans and animals. Usually, it implies human morality; therefore, the focus is on human-human relationships (generally in ethics) and human-animal relationships (in animal ethics). Ethics can also deal with the morality of machines such as unmanned aerial vehicles, robots and agents or of self-driving cars and computers in automated trading, in other words more or less autonomous systems and programs.“ Auf solche Systeme wird eingegangen, aber nicht im Verhältnis zum Menschen, sondern zum Tier. Und das ist innerhalb der Maschinenethik immer noch – die Onlineversion ist bereits 2013 erschienen – neu. Am Rande wird eine Disziplin der Tier-Maschine-Interaktion (Animal-Machine Interaction) vorgeschlagen. Diese wird im Beitrag „Überlegungen zur Disziplin der Tier-Maschine-Interaktion“ näher diskutiert und im April auf einem Workshop an der Universität Bochum im Rahmen des DFG-Forschungsprojekts „Das verdatete Tier“ vorgestellt. „Considerations about the relationship between animal and machine ethics“ kann über die Website von Springer heruntergeladen werden.
