The WG “Ethical, Legal, Societal and Economic Issues” considers ethical, legal, societal and economic Issues triggered by the pervasive use of technology. It will pay particular attention to the potential impact of the very advanced robots envisioned by RoboCom++ on jobs, the economy and the social welfare, and to the analysis and proposition of viable policy options.

The methodologies for investigating these topics, and the implications of robots working with and for us, in our society, will be analysed and validated.

Models will be developed for estimating qualitatively and quantitatively the impact of the pervasive use of Robot Companions on jobs and on productivity, sustainability, social welfare and micro/macroeconomy. In particular WG6 will investigate how to make Robot Companions “accepted” at any social scale because, among the strongest forms of resistance to Robotics in Europe, are those related to the negative perception of robots by people.