Accomplishing Robotic Autonomy: The Complexities of Situated Practices and Agency in The Laboratory

Effective interventions in ethical issues around robotic autonomy demand situated understandings of roboticists' practices that shape the robots. An ethnographic approach focusing on roboticists' development practices can help build an in-depth understanding of their interactions with the robots that serve to realize robotic autonomy, roboticists' motivations and values, as well as the harms derived from specific practices of interaction. My preliminary work examines the material-discursive practices used to accomplish robotic agency in an engineering research laboratory. My work reveals the complex dynamics of care that highlights the interactions between the roboticists and the robots. I argue that interventions must acknowledge and engage with technologists' care to be effective. I hereby propose future work to further my investigation in HRI that occurs beyond the development phase.