照顧機器人倫理議題探討：以長照服務為例

The Ethical Issues of Applying Care Robots in Long-Term Care

人口老化，已成為世界許多國家的主要變遷趨勢；臺灣亦將於2026年邁入老年比率達20%的超高齡社會，高齡者照顧需求，儼然成為社會當前的重要議題。另一方面，隨著科技的發展，近年越來越多國家強調透過照顧機器人的應用，滿足高齡者照顧需求。雖然臺灣近年亦開始引進及研發照顧機器人，但少有文獻關注機器人對於高齡者的實際影響。不過，服務的介入對使用者產生的影響與倫理議題，一直是社會政策關注的焦點。相較於國內較多研究聚焦的長照服務或照顧機構倫理考量，目前臺灣較為缺乏照顧機器人倫理議題的分析。基於此，本文從「照顧本質」及「照顧權利」面向出發，試圖論述機器人運用於長照服務時，由於與照顧價值的衝突及不具倫理敏感性的環境等因素，進而可能產生缺乏人際互動、欺騙、物品化、隱私權與自由權侵犯等倫理議題。不過，本文並非否定照顧機器人的效用與存在價值，而是企圖藉由前述問題的提出，喚起社會對於未來機器人照顧模式倫理議題的重視，進而使照顧機器人之運用更具正當性。

More and more countries are facing the problem of aging populations; the percent of elderly in Taiwan will reach 20% of the entire population in 2026, i.e. constituting a super-aged society. With the pressure of an aging population and the rapid development of technology in recent years, the application of care robots in long-term care has attracted increasing attention in advanced industrial countries, including Taiwan. Although Taiwanese society also introduces or put resources into developing care robots, there is scant research focusing on the impact of the lives of the elderly in using care robots. However, social policy must always pay attention to ethical issues and the impact on the lives of the elderly in using such services. Compared to the rich discussions on the ethical issues in the traditional long-term care services field, the analysis of the ethical situation of applying care robots has received little attention in Taiwan. Based on the meaning of care and preserving the rights of the elderly, this study discusses the ethical issue in using care robots. Although, the current study does not deny the value and benefit of care robots, in fact, quite the contrary, this paper aims to arouse Taiwanese society to pay greater attention to the ethical situation as it is clear that more and more care robots will be employed globally. This study believes that only if we do this, will the application of care robots gain greater ethical legitimacy.