Ethics case of the killer robo
Ethics case of the killer roboCase Summary
Randy Samuels, ex-programmer at Silicon Techtronics, was charged for the manslaughter of Bart Matthews who was killed by Robbie CX30. It was manufactured at Silicon Techtronics and Randy obviously programmed the robot erroneously which caused the robot to kill Bart.
The Prosecuting Attorney, Jane McMurdock, found evidence which shows that Randy improperly interpreted the physics formula. The programs specifications do reflect what Randy implemented in the robot. He interchanged and miscalculated the formulas that was handed to him. In essence, his mistake costs a person's life.
Within the company, the Robotics Division was already having problems before the Matthew's incident. The Robbie CX30 was an important breakpoint for the Robotics Division. The success or failure of the project will determine the survival or demise of the division. Nothing could go wrong because it would mean layoffs.
There was a large conflict between Sam Reynolds (Robbie CX30 Project Manager) and Ray Johnson (Chief of Robotics Division). Each of them have different views in how to complete projects. Ray pressured Sam to finish the project by the first of January or "heads will roll". Nevertheless, there were already rumors that the project was already six months behind schedule.
The Sentinel-Observer had an anonymous source named Martha. Marth stated that Johnson tried to speed-up the process by cutting corners and hiring more programmers. Johnson believed that more programmers would result in a quicker implementation of the software. He carried over his methodology in hardware manufacturing to software development. Like manufacturing, more human resources would result in greater productivity. According to Martha, Johnson's idea was a disaster. (Johnson was comparing apples and oranges.) There was no way to speed up software development with people who are inexperienced and disoriented with the development of the project. Reynolds became furious with Johnson's initiative. The new hirees were not fully integrated to the Robbie CX30 project because there was no time. There was a deadline that need to be met.
Martha reiterated the June 12th meeting when Johnson emphasized his belief in the Ivory Snow Theory. It states that robotics software could not be any purer than 99 and 44/100%. Basically, there is no such thing as 100% perfect software and such a belief is ridiculous. Johnson was capitalizing on the success of the Robbie CX30 project since his division was already running on a loss for the past six years. He was very ambitious to prove critics that he could make the Robotics Division successful.
The personality of Randy Samuels was criticized as a "prima donna". A term that meant that Randy was a programmer who can not accept criticism and/or his fallability. He had the mentality that he was always right; no one can prove him wrong. Many of his co-workers find...
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