Constraints on freely chosen action for moral robots: Consciousness and control

The protean word ‘autonomous’ has gained broad currency as a descriptive adjective for AI research projects, robotic and otherwise. Depending upon context, ‘autonomous’ at present connotes anything from a shallow, purely reactive system to a sophisticated cognitive architecture reflective of much of human cognition; hence the term fails to pick out any specific set of constitutive functionality. However, philosophers and ethicists have something relatively well-defined in mind when they talk about the idea of autonomy. For them, an autonomous agent is often by definition potentially morally responsible for its actions. Moreoever, as a prerequisite to correct ascription of ‘autonomous,’ a certain capacity to choose freely is assumed — even if this freedom is understood to be semi-constrained by societal conventions, moral norms, and the like.