Overview of the International Conference on Robot Ethics and Safety Standards – with survey on autonomous cars

The International Conference on Robot Ethics and Safety Standards (ICRESS-2017) took place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 20th to 21st October 2017. Maria Isabel Aldinhas Ferreira and João Silva Sequeira coordinated the conference with the aim to create a vibrant multidisciplinary discussion around pressing safety, ethical, legal and societal issues of the rapid introduction of robotic technology in many environments. There were several fascinating keynote presentations. Mathias Scheutz' inaugural speech highlighted the need for robots to act in a way that would be perceived as using moral principles and judgement. It was refreshing to see that we could potentially have autonomous robots that arrive at appropriate decisions that would be seen as "right" or "wrong" by an external observer.