Papers
46
Total Citations
3,028
H-Index
20
About
Noel Sharkey is a pioneering researcher whose work sits at the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence, and ethics — fields he has helped shape through decades of provocative, policy-relevant scholarship. Best known for his incisive examinations of the social and moral implications of emerging robotic technologies, Sharkey has directed sustained attention toward two defining concerns: the use of robots in caregiving contexts and the dangers of autonomous lethal systems in warfare. His most cited work, "Granny and the robots" (2010, 946 citations), raised urgent ethical alarms about deploying robots as caregivers for the elderly, a theme he extended to childcare in his widely read "The crying shame of robot nannies" series. These contributions catalyzed international debate about emotional manipulation, dependency, and human dignity in human-robot interaction. Simultaneously, Sharkey has been one of the most prominent voices calling for prohibition of autonomous weaponry, arguing compellingly across multiple papers — including "Saying 'No!' to Lethal Autonomous Targeting" (199 citations) and "The evitability of autonomous robot warfare" (169 citations) — that machines must never independently make life-and-death decisions. His 2020 work on deception in social robotics further demonstrates his enduring relevance. Sharkey's scholarship has made him an indispensable ethical compass in an era of rapid robotic advancement.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Granny and the robots: ethical issues in robot care for the elderly946 citations · 2010
- 2Saying ‘No!’ to Lethal Autonomous Targeting199 citations · 2010
- 3The crying shame of robot nannies194 citations · 2010
- 4The Ethical Frontiers of Robotics179 citations · 2008
- 5The evitability of autonomous robot warfare169 citations · 2012
- 6We need to talk about deception in social robotics!161 citations · 2020
- 7Children, the Elderly, and Interactive Robots156 citations · 2011
- 8The crying shame of robot nannies: An ethical appraisal146 citations · 2010
- 9Cassandra or False Prophet of Doom: AI Robots and War100 citations · 2008
- 10The “Test and Select” Approach to Ensemble Combination92 citations · 2000