DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/8bqq-2h34

In the Face of the Robot

Authors

David J. Gunkel, Northern Illinois UniversityFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9385-4536

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Abstract

“Robot” designates something that does not quite fit the standard way of organizing beings into the mutually exclusive categories of “person” or “thing.” The figure of the robot interrupts this fundamental organizing schema, resisting efforts at both reification and personification. Consequently, what is seen reflected in the face or faceplate of the robot is the fact that the existing moral and legal ontology—the way that we make sense of and organize our world—is already broken or at least straining against its own limitations. What is needed in response to this robot uprising is a significantly reformulated moral and legal ontology that can scale to the unique challenges of the 21^st century and beyond.

Recommended Citation

Gunkel, David J. (2022) "In the Face of the Robot," communication +1: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 9.
Available at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cpo/vol9/iss1/9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7275/8bqq-2h34