Holding Robots Responsible: The Elements of Machine Morality
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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Designing a Bio-responsive Robot from DNA Origami
Published on: July 8, 2013
Yochanan E Bigman1, Adam Waytz2, Ron Alterovitz3
1Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA.
Abstract:
As robots become more autonomous, people will see them as more responsible for wrongdoing. Moral psychology suggests that judgments of robot responsibility will hinge on perceived situational awareness, intentionality, and free will, plus human likeness and the robot's capacity for harm. We also consider questions of robot rights and moral decision-making.
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