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About

Ryan Jenkins is a philosopher whose work sits at the cutting edge of technology ethics, with particular expertise in robotics, artificial intelligence, and autonomous systems. Best known for his contributions to *Robot Ethics 2.0: From Autonomous Cars to Artificial Intelligence* (2017), which has accumulated nearly 200 citations, Jenkins has helped shape scholarly and policy conversations about how emerging technologies challenge traditional moral frameworks. His research interrogates fundamental questions about moral agency and responsibility: can robots be held to deontological standards, and what happens when they cannot? In "When Robots Should Do the Wrong Thing," he argues compellingly that phenomenally unconscious machines lack the mental capacities necessary for genuine moral agency, reframing how we evaluate machine behavior. Jenkins also applies rigorous philosophical analysis to autonomous weapons systems, examining their implications for the moral equality of combatants and engaging critically with influential thinkers like Robert Sparrow on the legitimacy of deploying such systems in warfare. Across his body of work, Jenkins demonstrates a rare ability to connect abstract philosophical theory to urgent real-world dilemmas, making him an indispensable voice in the rapidly evolving field of robot and AI ethics.