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Moral psychology of nursing robots: Exploring the role of robots in dilemmas of patient autonomy

Laakasuo, Michael; Palomäki, Jussi; Kunnari, Anton; Rauhala, Sanna; Drosinou, Marianna; Halonen, Juho; Lehtonen, Noora; Koverola, Mika; Repo, Marko; Sundvall, Jukka; Visala, Aku; Francis, Kathryn B.

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Authors

Michael Laakasuo

Jussi Palomäki

Anton Kunnari

Sanna Rauhala

Marianna Drosinou

Juho Halonen

Noora Lehtonen

Mika Koverola

Marko Repo

Jukka Sundvall

Aku Visala



Abstract

Artificial intelligences (AIs) are widely used in tasks ranging from transportation to healthcare and military, but it is not yet known how people prefer them to act in ethically difficult situations. In five studies (an anthropological field study, n=30, and four experiments, total n=2150), we presented people with vignettes where a human or an advanced robot nurse is ordered by a doctor to forcefully medicate an unwilling patient. Participants were more accepting of a human nurse’s than a robot nurse’s forceful medication of the patient, and more accepting of (human or robot) nurses who respected patient autonomy rather than followed the orders to forcefully medicate (Study 2). The findings were robust against the perceived competence of the robot (Study 3), moral luck (whether the patient lived or died afterwards; Study 4) and command chain effects (Study 5; fully automated supervision or not). Thus, people PREFER robots capable of disobeying orders in favor of abstract moral principles like valuing personal autonomy. Our studies fit in a new era in research, where moral psychological phenomena no longer reflect only interactions between people, but between people and autonomous AIs.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 4, 2022
Online Publication Date Sep 25, 2022
Publication Date 2023-02
Publicly Available Date Jun 27, 2023
Journal European Journal of Social Psychology
Print ISSN 0046-2772
Publisher Wiley
Volume 53
Issue 1
Pages 108-128
DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2890
Keywords Social Psychology
Publisher URL https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.2890

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