The use of assistive robots in domestic environments can raise significant ethical concerns, from the risk of individual ethical harm to wider societal ethical impacts including culture flattening and compromise of human dignity. It is therefore essential to ensure that technological development of these robots is informed by robust and inclusive techniques for mitigating ethical concerns. This paper presents EHAZOP, a method for conducting an ethical hazard analysis on an assistive robot. EHAZOP draws upon collaborative, creative and structured processes originating within safety engineering, using these to identify ethical concerns associated with the operation of a given assistive robot. We present the results of a proof of concept study of EHAZOP, demonstrating the potential for this process to identify diverse ethical hazards in these systems.

The science fiction author Isaac Asimov first proposed the'Three Laws of Robotics' in a short story published in 1942 as a way of ensuring the machines would not rise up to overthrow humanity. But with robots now starting to appear in people's homes and artificial intelligence developing, a group of experts have drawn up a new list of rules to protect humanity from their creations. The British Standards Institution, which develops technical and quality guidelines for goods sold in the UK and issues the famous Kitemark certificate, has drawn up a new standard for robots. The British Standards Institution have drawn up new guidelines for robotics designers to help ensure robots do not cause a risk to humans. They say the growing use of robots in homes, shops (robot shop assistant Pepper pictured) and industry poses an'ethical hazard' It states that robots should not be designed to kill or harm humans, echoing Asimov's first law of robotics.