Imposing limits on autonomous systems

Abstract

Our present era is witnessing the genesis of a sea-change in the way that advanced technologies operate. Amongst this burgeoning wave of untrammelled automation there is now beginning to arise a cadre of ever-more independent, autonomous systems. The degree of interaction between these latter systems with any form of human controller is becoming progressively more diminished and remote; and this perhaps necessarily so. Here, I advocate for human-centred and human favouring constraints to be designed, programmed, promulgated and imposed upon these nascent forms of independent entity. I am not sanguine about the collective response of modern society to this call. Nevertheless, the warning must be voiced and the issue debated, especially among those who most look to mediate between people and technology.

Practitioner Summary: Practitioners are witnessing the penetration of progressively more independent technical orthotics into virtually all systems’ operations. This work enjoins them to advocate for sentient, rational and mindful human-centred approaches towards such innovations. Practitioners need to place user-centred concerns above either the technical or the financial imperatives which motivate this line of progress.

Keywords:

• Autonomy
• constraints and limitations
• human-centred design

Acknowledgments

I am most grateful to the insightful comments of two anonymous reviewers on an earlier version of this work.

Notes

1. The assertion ‘greatest good for the greatest number’ often ascribed to Bentham actually pre-dated him and was, even at that juncture the subject of debate, contention and rightful rejections. (see https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham).