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Courses / Graduate School / BIOETHIC

BIOETHIC 703

Frontier AI & Robotics: Law and Ethics

Jeff Ward

Description from DukeHub

Robots, with us for several generations already, were long confined to narrow uses and trained users, assembling our vehicles and moving our products behind the scenes. In recent years, robotic tools have begun to step out of the back room and take center stage. Are we ready? Probably not. Surely our legal systems and ethical frameworks must evolve. We must find ways to ensure that human-robot interactions occur in ways that are safe and are consistent with our cultural values. We must take care that our policies and laws provide the direction we need without quashing or hindering the innovations that could improve our lives. The course will bring together three core areas: (1) law, (2) ethics/science policy, and (3) applied technology/science.

Skills

AI-resilient: 2 of 5

  • No: Physical, lab or field work
  • No: Live work with people
  • Yes: Judgment someone is accountable for · "law"
  • No: A craft you practice with your hands or body
  • Yes: Small, in-person format · seminar, 4 seats per section

The checks lean on Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025), which found generative AI applies least to physical work and hands-on work with people. A signal, not a promise. How the score works

More in BIOETHIC

All BIOETHIC courses · All of Graduate School