The abbreviation ELS is short for “ethical, legal and social” implications of robotics and artificial intelligence. Like the ELSI (ethical, legal and social implications) activities in the US and ELSA (ethical, legal and social aspects) in Europe that address the implications of e.g. genomics or nano technology, these topics are also of paramount importance for the discussion about the future of robotics and automation technology. Therefore, this abbreviation is often to be found on our website and in our publications.

In addition to these categories, we subdivided the impact of robotics into ethical, moral, socio-cultural, socio-political and socio-economic consequences of new technologies in the field of robotics, automation and artificial intelligence. It is our objective to discuss and investigate these potential effects and challenges in order to establish voluntary guidelines for a self-regulation of robotics industries.