Volo Herzon
Papers
4
Total Citations
25
H-Index
3
About
Volo Herzon investigates the moral psychology of artificial agents, probing how humans judge robots in ethically charged scenarios. Their research reveals that people hold robots to heightened moral standards, expecting them to prioritize deontological principles—like preserving innocence—over utilitarian outcomes, even when the latter would save more lives. This counterintuitive finding, demonstrated across eight experiments with over 3,700 participants, challenges earlier assumptions that robots are universally expected to be utilitarian. Herzon’s two-part synthesis on moral psychology and artificial agents (2020) further explores how our evolved cognitive machinery struggles to categorize robots, placing them in a new ontological category distinct from tools, animals, or humans. With over 25 citations across their most-cited works, Herzon’s contributions are shaping debates in AI ethics and human-robot interaction. Their work is essential reading for anyone interested in how emerging technologies test the boundaries of moral cognition.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Moral Psychology and Artificial Agents (Part Two)8 citations · 2020
- 3Moral Psychology and Artificial Agents (Part One)5 citations · 2020
- 4