CFP: ICRA 2022 Workshop on Addressing Ethical and Technical Challenges in the Development, Use, and Governance of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS)

Topic

This workshop recruits interdisciplinary researchers to partner with robotics researchers in developing a disciplinary response to the challenges surrounding legal and ethical governance in design and use of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) and related technologies.

In line with this goal, we are soliciting contributions for 1 page extended abstracts which will be presented at an in person poster session.

Find more information about the workshop here: https://www.grasp.upenn.edu/LAWS_ICRA2022/

Selection Process

Submissions should be submitted via our google form: https://forms.gle/HoXbYxyUCcbkkFvq8 and are due April 13, 2022. All contributions will be reviewed by the organizers and the authors will be notified of the committee’s decision by April 27.

Selection criteria will include: relevance to the workshop’s stated topic and aims, academic excellence and innovation, representation from underrepresented groups, international representation, and diversity of perspectives and topics covered.

Accepted contributions will be asked to provide a one minute introduction and a single accompanying slide to be shared with the workshop prior to the poster session. The poster session will take place during lunch. Participants will receive a link to vote for the best poster, which will receive recognition at the end of the workshop during the closing remarks. 

Interested in Collaborating? 

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the workshop, many potential submitters may be interested in collaborating. To this end, we have created an optional Google form to help find collaborators for the poster submission. After filling out the form you will get access to a google sheet containing information from everyone who submitted the form, which you can use to reach out to potential collaborators. We are not coordinating collaborations nor keeping track of who finds collaborators through the sheet. 

Potential Poster Ideas

We understand that the topic of this workshop is outside the typical area of publication for many of the participants who come from a technical field. Therefore, we have compiled a (non-exhaustive) list of ideas to help inspire submissions:

• Case study

• Case study of a researcher or group’s technical work in the context of ethics and how their work fits into the broader discussion of robot ethics.

• Implications of work in robotics

• Review posters: examine potential implications of technological developments in a subset of the field and the potential consequences of progress made there.

• Implications of one’s own work: show how work you have done addresses LAWS concerns.

• Personal practice (for PI)

• What lab best practices have you adhered to? Why?

• Historical perspective (especially relevant for senior scientists)

• What changes have you seen in the field related to LAWS? 

• What changes in attitudes have you seen? From other experts? From the general public?

• What technological progress have you seen go from academia and make its way into the “real world” that has impacted the discussion on LAWS?

• Policy proposals

• Present a specific policy proposal that you would like to see (can be a policy aimed at scientific journals, professional associations, universities, governments, etc.)

• Ethical analyses

• Provide an analysis of the ethical challenges issues facing the robotics community on the issue of LAWS

• Examples

• Obligations on impact of work? 

• Partnering with the government?

• Values in robotics

• Open questions

• What are the open questions that you need guidance on and how would that impact the technical work you do?

• Tutorial

• What technical concept do you think policy makers don’t understand that they should? How does this impact LAWS?