Ethical dimensions of human-robot interactions in the care of older people : Insights from 21 focus groups convened in the UK, France and the Netherlands

Abstract

We briefly report the method and four findings of a large-scale qualitative study of potential users’ views on the ethical values that should govern the design and programming of social robots for older people. 21 focus groups were convened in the UK, France and the Netherlands. We present and briefly discuss our data on: 1) the contrasting attitudes of older people and formal and informal carers about how well technology might be received by older users; 2) views about healthcare professionals, informal and formal carers having access to private information about householders that has been collected by the robot; 3) the belief that robots could not, as well as should not, replace human contact because persuasion is regarded a uniquely human skill; and 4) differing perceptions of the role of the robot and how this was used to justify ethical opinions on robot behavior.