UIS Professor Michael Lemke’s research paper honored for excellence

Emerald Group Publishing named a paper co-authored by University of Illinois Springfield Biology Professor Michael Lemke as the Outstanding Paper of 2014 in the Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society.

“On robots as genetically modified invasive species” was co-authored by Keith Miller, a professor at the University of Missouri – St. Louis and UIS emeritus professor of Computer Science. The paper explores similarities and differences between robots, invasive biological species, and genetically modified organisms. These comparisons are designed to better understand the potential effects of robots on human society.

The researchers found that robots entering human society in large numbers share many of the characteristics of an invasive species entering a new ecosystem. The authors also find that robots have several characteristics that are similar to a genetically modified organism. Taken together, these similarities suggest that society should be cautious about the introduction of large numbers of robots in a short period of time.

The paper is available for free download on the publisher’s website.