An Exploration of Mock Scenarios as a Prospective Method for Informing Law and Policy Thinking on Service Robotics

Modern service robots (such as delivery robots) are becoming more commonplace, and it is important to bridge the gap between legal and engineering thinking to be able to propose and implement effective policy. As a step in this direction, our presented work aims to inform lawyers and policy-makers on useful policy thinking surrounding service robots. Specifically, we use a mock robotic technology ordinance and accompanying mock scenarios to assess whether different types of shared context and information seem to influence robot law and policy experts' analysis of ordinances related to robotic technology. The presented work provides preliminary insights on how perceptions and interpretations of robot policy might change across different levels of background grounding and robotics understanding. Our findings can contribute to the ongoing discourse on responsible development and regulation of service robotic systems.