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<p>Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics remain a powerful cultural and conceptual touchstone for thinking about machine ethics, yet their literal application to contemporary governance is limited. This paper develops an interdisciplinary policy framework—the Safety–Ethics–Transparency (SET) model—that reconceptualizes Asimov’s laws as institutional imperatives for Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) policy. Using a qualitative meta-synthesis and conceptual mapping of over thirty interdisciplinary sources (technical, ethical, and policy studies), the paper synthesizes computational primitives for harm avoidance, ethics-by-design approaches, and transparency/auditability mechanisms into a coherent governance triad. The SET framework (1) anchors regulation in safety-first engineering and multi-level risk governance, (2) embeds ethical accountability across the innovation lifecycle via institutional and design instruments, and (3) operationalizes adaptive transparency to enable auditability and public oversight. The paper illustrates the framework’s applicability to robotics and general AI, aligns it with contemporary policy instruments (EU AI Act, OECD AI Principles, UNESCO Recommendation), and offers policy recommendations for national STI systems, including pathways for contextual adaptation in emerging innovation ecosystems. Finally, the study identifies empirical gaps and proposes a roadmap for piloting SET-based governance mechanisms.</p>

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From Asimov’s robot laws to the SET framework: integrating safety, ethics, and transparency in science, technology, and innovation policy

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月2日

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  • Hooman Shababi

摘要

Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics remain a powerful cultural and conceptual touchstone for thinking about machine ethics, yet their literal application to contemporary governance is limited. This paper develops an interdisciplinary policy framework—the Safety–Ethics–Transparency (SET) model—that reconceptualizes Asimov’s laws as institutional imperatives for Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) policy. Using a qualitative meta-synthesis and conceptual mapping of over thirty interdisciplinary sources (technical, ethical, and policy studies), the paper synthesizes computational primitives for harm avoidance, ethics-by-design approaches, and transparency/auditability mechanisms into a coherent governance triad. The SET framework (1) anchors regulation in safety-first engineering and multi-level risk governance, (2) embeds ethical accountability across the innovation lifecycle via institutional and design instruments, and (3) operationalizes adaptive transparency to enable auditability and public oversight. The paper illustrates the framework’s applicability to robotics and general AI, aligns it with contemporary policy instruments (EU AI Act, OECD AI Principles, UNESCO Recommendation), and offers policy recommendations for national STI systems, including pathways for contextual adaptation in emerging innovation ecosystems. Finally, the study identifies empirical gaps and proposes a roadmap for piloting SET-based governance mechanisms.