Time, Thought, Materiality: Africa and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Session

Session I

3 Sep 2019, 08:30

School of Tourism and Hospitality

Conveners

Session I: Ethics, Personhood, and Morality in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

• Asheel Singh (University of Johannesburg)

Description

Ethics, Personhood, And Morality In The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Contribution list Timetable

11. Virtual Persons: Rethinking Human Value

Prof. Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem (University of Pretoria)

03/09/2019, 08:30

Plenary

The first of the 2018 EU guidelines for ethical AI states “AI should not trample on human autonomy. People should not be manipulated or coerced by AI systems, and humans should be able to intervene or oversee every decision that the software makes”. The thinking behind this guideline is the Kantian notion that humans have intrinsic worth, and should therefore always be the best final arbiters...

39. Personhood, Animals And Robots In African Philosophy

Dr Motsamai Molefe (University of Fort Hare)

03/09/2019, 08:45

Plenary

Speaker

This essay considers the moral status of robots in the light of the idea of personhood salient in African philosophy. Specifically, I aim to consider whether robots can be objects of moral concern. To do so, I will first consider the place and status of animals in the light of personhood. I will consider moral reasons offered by the ethics of personhood to exclude animals from the moral...

9. Making Afro-ethics Computational

Mr Samuel Segun (University of Johannesburg)

03/09/2019, 09:00

Plenary

Speaker

Arguably, research in computational ethics and particularly any attempt at composing an ethical scheme for machines or autonomous intelligent systems will require three steps. First, identifying and adopting an ethical system, which will be compatible with a top-down, bottom-up or hybrid approach to computation. Second, schematizing this ethic in analytic form and third, developing appropriate...

13. On The Unique Personhoods Of Robots

Dr Mpho Tshivhase (University of Pretoria)

03/09/2019, 09:15

Plenary

Speaker

The existence of these humanoid robots forces us to think about or rethink the issues concerning rights, citizenship, and personhood. There is something quite different about robots in relation to persons. I am particularly interested to test the plausibility of considering the uniqueness of robots. My aim is to consider the radical distinction of robots. I will test the uniqueness of robots...

27. Discussion

Dr Asheel Singh (University of Johannesburg)

03/09/2019, 09:30

Plenary

Discussion

Discussion based on the Speakers' inputs (Session III)