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E-govErnmEnt

For as robots of today (and the future) likely countries to fare well in this new *This article is an edited version of
become increasingly social – autono- age are those that will have taken the the research note that Dr Ian Roberge
mous (insofar as they initiate action), time to analyse the potential and the kindly gave us permission to re-use.
adaptive (act in response to their physi- risks associated with the fourth industrial Dr Roberge is Associate Professor of
cal and social environment), personified revolution. It is our contention that
(convey an animal or human persona), governments can, and need to, assist Political Science at Glendon College,
and embodied (the computation is em- in structuring and managing these York University, Toronto, Canada.
bedded in the artefacts rather than just transformations as they unfold. They
in desktop computers or peripherals) – must do so with a view to protecting and
it seems likely that children and adults enhancing the public good. n
will not only interact with them ‘as if’ they
were social others, but also begin to feel
about them and treat them as having
life, mental states, sociality and moral
worth (Melson et al., 2009: 563).

The development of robots and artificial
intelligence show great promise for
homecare, but it also raises serious
ethical concerns.

The argument is not that governments
need to solve these debates per se.
Government agencies and frontline
workers must already consider these
types of issues. Governments need to
take the time now to think concretely
about how the technology is to be
used, how to make sure citizens benefit
from it, and how to minimise risks
while accounting for moral and ethical
matters. Doing so is important to avoid
some future disputes over the imposition
of technology upon society.

While government has always faced
concerns of ethics, this time the
concerns strike at the very nature of
humanness and a possible resolution
might be for government to entrench
the right of humanity to the unmitigated
individualism that separates us from
machines via a new code that would
address more directly, among other
topics, human-robot interaction. There
are substantive ethical issues across
policy fields and governments are going
to need to be particularly attentive
in areas where the most vulnerable,
such as the elderly, are going to need
protection.

conclusion

The fourth industrial revolution is in its
early stages. Its development will not
be linear, nor will it be predictable. As
mentioned earlier, the fourth industrial
revolution may bring about currently
unimaginable changes. It could also be
disrupted by wars, conflict, terrorism,
and/or organised crime. Governments
thus need to exercise good judgment
in thinking about the fourth industrial
revolution. We suspect that the most

10 SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW | Volume 11 No. 3 of 2018