S P E C I A L R E P O RT
technologies, such as fixed cameras and their accompanying privacy dilemmas, drone companies can take past lessons learned and apply them to the future. Labels also play an important role in addressing privacy challenges. Specifically, when tech companies have a history of compliance and maintain principles of safety, they should apply labels to ensure that others know the company and its products are credible.
“How do we slide this lever between what a human does and what a Robot does?” Mihail Pivtoraiko Products need to be socially accepted. The biggest threat to technology is whether it will be accepted by society and used by consumers. In order to anticipate product failures, companies should perform a project pre-mortem and break down issues in terms of technology and design, and also societal implications. In terms of design, robotics should not be invasive and have an admirable design that blends in. Socially, the product should better lives, whether or not an individual is the direct product user. Taking the sidewalk robot as an example, its technology should have a universally beneficial purpose—such as overcoming food wastage and serving as an alternative to paramedics. Technology should prioritize human-robot interaction. There are various levels of human-product interaction, each of which should prioritize safety. Robots at the Tesla headquarters, according to Edvemon, estrange humans and robots from one another due to safety concerns. Rather, robotics should prioritize its separate levels of human interaction: the robot’s actual user, those interacting with the user (such as customers) and society at large. Since robotics and drones are intended for human use, technology—regardless of how groundbreaking it is—should focus on the human factor. ●
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