“As a chemical engineering Ph.D. student at the University of Pittsburgh who uses a power wheelchair, I figured it wouldn’t be long before I met one of these bots in a frustrating face-off on a narrow sidewalk. What I didn’t realize was how dangerous, and dehumanizing, that scenario might be.
The robot was sitting motionless on the curb cut on the other side of Forbes Avenue. It wasn’t crossing with the rest of the pedestrians, and when I reached the curb, it didn’t move as the walk signal was ending. I found myself sitting in the street as the traffic light turned green, blocked by a non-sentient being incapable of understanding the consequences of its actions.”
“Now, thanks to the presence of these new delivery robots, the regular walk to my office has earned a spot on my ever-growing “Things to Worry About Daily” list. But don’t mistake this story for a protest against a singular company, or a warning about our possible autonomous future. In fact, the disabled community as a whole could greatly benefit from a delivery service for food or medicine.
"Instead, my experience is representative of a much larger, evolving problem. The advancement of robotics, AI, and other “futuristic” technologies has ushered in a new era in the ongoing struggle for representation of people with disabilities in large-scale decision-making settings. These technologies come with their own set of ethical design challenges, with more unknown consequences than ever before. And we have yet to have an honest, critical conversation about it.”
