Robots, Ethics, and Pandemics: How Might a Global Problem Change the Technology’s Adoption?

Using the COVID-19 pandemic to frame the discussion, this paper explores the potential ethical impacts of a greater reliance on robots during a public health emergency. Through an examination of various uses of different kinds of robots across the prevention, response, and recovery phases of the pandemic, this paper considers ethical pitfalls as well as the possible benefits of expanded deployment and use of robots to facilitate human management of public health emergencies. Alongside consideration of pandemic-related uses of robots, this paper also explores ethical concerns related to their use in public health practice and health care beyond the context of a public health emergency.