An Intervening Ethical Governor for a Robot Mediator in Patient-Caregiver Relationships
Abstract
Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) experience challenges when interacting with
caregivers due to their declining control over their musculature. To remedy those challenges, a
robot mediator can be used to assist in the relationship between PD patients and their caregivers.
In this context, a variety of ethical issues can arise. To overcome one issue in particular,
providing therapeutic robots with a robot architecture that can ensure patients’ and caregivers’
dignity is of potential value. In this paper, we describe an intervening ethical governor for a
robot that enables it to ethically intervene, both to maintain effective patient–caregiver
relationships and prevent the loss of dignity.