Writing

Representative work:

Academic Publications

Op-eds & Popular Press

Peter Asaro, Kelly Gates, Woodrow Hartzog, Lilly Irani, Evan Selinger and Lucy Suchman (2018). “Thanks to Amazon, the Government Will Soon be Able to Track Your Face,” The Guardian, July 6, 2018.

Lucy Suchman, Lilly Irani, and Peter Asaro (2018). “Google's March to the Business of War Must be Stopped,” The Guardian, May 16, 2018.

Asaro, P. (2018). “Why the World Needs to Regulate Autonomous Weapons, and Soon,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, April 27, 2018.

Asaro, P. (2016). “Dr. Peter Asaro on Drone Technology in Eye in the Sky,” Sloan Science and Film, April 19, 2016.

Asaro, P. (2015). “Ban Killer Robots before They Become Weapons of Mass Destruction,” Scientific American, August 7, 2015.

Edited Books & Journals

Asaro, P. and Wendell Wallach (eds.) (2017). Machine Ethics and Robot Ethics, The Library of Essays on the Ethics of Emerging Technologies Book Series, Routledge.

Altmann, Juergen, P. Asaro, Noel Sharkey, and Robert Sparrow (eds.) (2013). “Special Issue on Armed Military Robots,” Ethics and Information Technology,15 (2), June 2013 (Braille translation by Don Winiecki).

Asaro, P., and George J. Klir (eds.) (2009). “Introduction: Special Issue on the Intellectual Legacy of W. Ross Ashby,” International Journal of General Systems, 38 (2), 93-95.

Journal Articles

Asaro, P. (2023) " Politicizing Data: AI Ethics as a Social Critique of Algorithms," Special Issue on Frontiers of Social Inquiry, Social Research, Vol. 90, No. 4 (Winter 2023), pp. 675-703.

Asaro, P. (2019) " AI Ethics in Predictive Policing: From Models of Threat to an Ethics of Care," IEEE Technology & Society Magazine, Vol. 38, No. 2 (June 2019), pp. 40-53.

Asaro, P. (2019) " Algorithms of Violence: Critical Social Perspectives on Autonomous Weapons," Special Issue on Algorithms, Social Research, Vol. 86, No. 2 (Summer 2019), pp. 537-555.

Asaro, P. (2019) " What is an 'AI Arms Race' Anyway?," I/S: A Journal of Law for the Information Society, Vol. 15, No. 1-2 (Spring 2019), pp. 45-64.

Asaro, P. (2016) "'Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!' HRI and the Automation of Police Use of Force,” Special Issue on Robotics Law and Policy, Journal of Human-Robot Interaction, Vol. 5, No. 3 (2016): pp. 55-69.

Asaro, P. (2015) “Roberto Cordeschi on Cybernetics and Autonomous Weapons: Reflections and Responses,” Paradigmi: Rivista di critica filosofica, Anno XXXIII, no. 3, Settembre-Dicembre, 2015, pp. 83-107.

Šabanović, Selma, Staša Milojević, P. Asaro, Matt Francisco (2015) “Robotics Narratives and Networks,” IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 22 (1), March, 2015, pp. 137-146.

Šabanović, Selma, Staša Milojević, Jasleen Kaur, Matt Francisco, P. Asaro (2014) “Raymond Jarvis,” IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 21 (4), December, 2014, pp. 120-126.

Asaro, P. (2014). “Droits de l’homme, automatisation et déshumanisation des prises de décisions létales : les systèmes d’armement autonomes doivent-ils être interdits?, Revue Internationale de la Croix-Rouge, Volume 94, Sélection française 2012/2, pp. 489-517.

Asaro, P. (2014). “Determinism, Machine Agency and Responsibility,” Special Issue on Investigating the Relationship between Future Technologies, Self & Society, Alberto Pirni and Antonio Carnevale (eds.), Politica & Società, 2, May-August, 2014, pp. 265-292.

Richard, Claire and P. Asaro (2014) “Can Drones Have Ethics?,” Public Books, July 1, 2014.

Asaro, P. (2013). “Punishment, Reinforcement Learning and Machine Agency,” Cosmopolis. IX (2/2013).

Altmann, Juergen, P. Asaro, Noel Sharkey, and Robert Sparrow (2013). “Armed Military Robots: Editorial,” Ethics and Information Technology 15 (2), June 2013, pp. 73-76.

Asaro, P. (2013). “The Labor of Surveillance and Bureaucratized Killing: New Subjectivities of Military Drone Operators,” Special Issue on Charting, Tracking, Mapping: Technology, Labor, and Surveillance, Gretchen Soderlund (ed.), Social Semiotics, 23 (2), pp. 196-224.

Asaro, P. (2012). “On Banning Autonomous Lethal Systems: Human Rights, Automation and the Dehumanizing of Lethal Decision-making,” Special Issue on New Technologies and Warfare, International Review of the Red Cross, 94 (886), Summer 2012, pp. 687-709 (Braille translation by Don Winiecki).

Asaro, P. (2011). “Remote-Control Crimes: Roboethics and Legal Jurisdictions of Tele-Agency,” Special Issue on Roboethics, Gianmarco Veruggio, Mike Van der Loos, and Jorge Solis (eds.), IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, 18, (1), 68-71.

Asaro, P. (2009). “Modeling the Moral User: Designing Ethical Interfaces for Tele-Operation,” IEEE Technology & Society, 28 (1), 20-24.

Asaro, P. (2009). “Information and Regulation in Robots, Perception and Consciousness: Ashby's Embodied Minds,” International Journal of General Systems, 38 (2), 111-128.

Asaro, P. (2008). “Computer als Modelle des Geistes. Über Simulation und das Gehirn als Modell des Designs von Computern,” Österreichische Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaften, Geschichte der Kybernetik, 19 (4), pp. 41-72. (Translated into German by Albert Müller).

Asaro, P. (2006). “What Should We Want from a Robot Ethic?,” Special Issue on Ethics in Robotics, Karsten Weber, Daniela Cerquie and Jutta Weber (eds.), International Review of Information Ethics, 6 (12), pp. 9-16.

Asaro, P. (2006). “Working Models and the Synthetic Method: Electronic Brains as Mediators Between Neurons and Behavior,” Special Issue on Models and Simulations, Tarja Knuuttila, Erika Mattila and Martina Merz (eds.), Science Studies 19 (1), pp. 12-34.

Asaro, P. (2000). “Transforming Society by Transforming Technology: The Science and Politics of Participatory Design,” Special Issue on Critical Studies of Information Practice, Accounting, Management and Information Technologies, 10 (4), pp. 257-290.

Book Contributions and Chapters

Asaro, P. (2020) “Autonomous Weapons and the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence,” in S. Matthew Liao (ed.) Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, Oxford University Press, pp. 212-236.

Asaro, P. (2017) “The Labor of Surveillance and Bureaucratized Killing: New Subjectivities of Military Drone Operators,” in Lisa Parks and Caren Kaplan (eds.) Life in the Age of Drone Warfare, Duke University Press, pp. 282-314.

Asaro, P. (2017) “Moral and Ethical Perspectives,” in Ray Acheson, Matthew Bolton and Elizabeth Minor (eds.) The Humanitarian Impact of Drones, Reaching Critical Will, pp. 141-149.

Asaro, P., and Wendell Wallach (2017) “An Introduction to Machine Ethics and Robot Ethics,” in Asaro, P. and Wendell Wallach (eds.) Machine Ethics and Robot Ethics, The Library of Essays on the Ethics of Emerging Technologies, Routledge.

Asaro, P. (2017). “What Should We Want from a Robot Ethic?,” in Asaro, P. and W. Wallach (eds.) Machine Ethics and Robot Ethics, Ashgate Publishing Ltd.

Asaro, P. (2016). “Jus nascendi, Robotic Weapons and the Martens Clause,” in Ryan Calo, Michael Froomkin and Ian Kerr (eds.) Robot Law, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 367–386 (Braille translation by Don Winiecki).

Asaro, P. (2015). “On Banning Autonomous Lethal Systems: Human Rights, Automation and the Dehumanizing of Lethal Decision-making,”in Allenby, Braden (ed.) The Applied Ethics of Emerging Military and Security Technologies, Ashgate Publishing Ltd.: Surrey, UK, pp. 255-277.

Asaro, P. (2014). “Ethical Perspectives on Autonomous Weapons Systems,” in Autonomous Weapons Systems: Technical, Military, Legal and Humanitarian Aspects, International Committee of the Red Cross Summary Report of Expert Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, March 26-28, 2014, pp. 49-52.

Asaro, P. (2013). “À quel point une guerre de robot peut-elle être juste?,” in Sébastien Mazoyer, Jérôme de Lespinois, Emmanuel Goffi, Grégory Boutherin, and Christophe Pajon (eds.), Les drones aériens: passé, présent et avenir. Approche globale. Paris, France: La Documentation française, Collection Stratégie aérospatiale, pp. 613-631. (Translated into French by Emmanuel Goffi).

Asaro, P. (2012). “How Just Could a Robot War Be?” in Erica L. Gaston and Patti Tamara Lenard (eds.), Ethics of 21st Century Military Conflict, New York, NY: IDEBATE Press, pp. 257-269.

Asaro, P. (2011). “A Body to Kick, But Still No Soul to Damn: Legal Perspectives on Robotics,” in Patrick Lin, Keith Abney, and George Bekey (eds.) Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Robotics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 169-186.

Asaro, P. (2011). “Computers as Models of the Mind: On Simulations, Brains and the Design of Early Computers,” in Stefano Franchi and Francesco Bianchini (eds.) The Search for a Theory of Cognition: Early Mechanisms and New Ideas. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Rodopi, pp. 89-114.

Asaro, P. (2010). “Whatever Happened to Cybernetics?” in Günther Friesinger, Johannes Grenzfurthner, Thomas Ballhausen, and Verena Bauer (eds.) Geist in der Maschine. Medien, Prozesse und Räume der Kybernetik. Vienna, Austria: Verlag Turia & Kant, pp. 39-49.
Audio MP3

Asaro, P., and Gerhard Dabringer (2010). “Military Robots and Just War Theory,”in Gerhard Dabringer (ed.) Ethica Themen: Ethical and Legal Aspects of Unmanned Systems, Interviews, Vienna, Austria: Austrian Ministry of National Defence and Sports, pp. 103-119.

Asaro, P. (2009). “What Should We Want from a Robot Ethic?,” in Rafael Capurro and Michael Nagenborg (eds.) Ethics and Robotics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: IOS Press.

Asaro, P. (2009). “A.I.und Roboter mit Gefühlen - Kollective Fiktion in Wissenshaft und Film,” in Günther Friesinger and Karin Harrasser (eds.) Public Fictions: Wie man Roboter und Menschen erfindet. Innsbruck, Austria: Studien Verlag/Skarabæus, pp. 78-88. (Translated into German by Evelyn Fürlinger).

Asaro, P. (2008). “From Mechanisms of Adaptation to Intelligence Amplifiers: The Philosophy of W. Ross Ashby,” in Michael Wheeler, Philip Husbands and Owen Holland (eds.) The Mechanical Mind in History, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 149-184.
Pierre Collet's review of this book for Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines.

Asaro, P. (2008). “How Just Could a Robot War Be?” in Adam Briggle, Katinka Waelbers and Philip A. E. Brey (eds.), Current Issues in Computing And Philosophy, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: IOS Press, pp. 50-64.

Asaro, P. and Vann K. (2008). “Pornomechanics: Sex Robots and the Mechanisms of Love,” in Johannes Grenzfurthner, Günther Fieslinger and Daniel Fabry (eds.) prOnnovation? Pornography and Technological Innovation, San Francisco, CA: RE/Search Publications, pp. 16-29.

Asaro, P. (2007). “Heinz von Foerster and the Bio-Computing Movements of the 1960s,” in Albert Müller and Karl H. Müller (eds.) An Unfinished Revolution? Heinz von Foerster and the Biological Computer Laboratory | BCL 1958-1976.Vienna, Austria: Edition Echoraum, pp. 253-275.

Asaro, P. (2006). “A.I. and Emotional Robots: Collaborative Fiction in Science and Film," in Johannes Grenzfurthner (ed.) Monochrom Yearbook 2006. Vienna, Austria: Monochrom.

Asaro, P., Caroline Hayes, and Patricia C. Jones (2001). “CoRAVEN: A Cognitive Tool for Intelligence Analysis,” in Marius S. Vassiliou and Thomas S. Huang (eds.) Computer Science Handbook for Displays. Thousand Oaks, CA: Rockwell Scientific Company, pp. 221-236.

Encyclopedia Articles

Asaro, P. (2014). “Participatory Design,” in Carl Mitcham (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Ethics, Second Edition, New York, NY: Macmillon, pp. 345-347.

Asaro, P. (2005). “Participatory Design,” in Carl Mitcham (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Ethics. New York, NY: Macmillon, pp. .

Asaro, P. (2005). “Artificial Intelligence,” in Colin Hempstead and William E. Worthington (eds.), The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Technology.London, UK: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, pp. 40-43.

Asaro, P. (2001). “Artificial Intelligence,” “Artificial Life,” “Cybernetics,” “Cybernetic Writings of Norbert Wiener,” “Cyborg,” “McCulloch, Warren,” and “Neural Networks,” in Raul Rojas (ed.),The Encyclopedia of Computers and Computer History, London, UK: The Moschovitis Group and Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, pp. 52-59, 211-216, 219-221, 574-577.

Book Reviews

Asaro, P. (2009). “A Review of The Robot: The Life Story of a Technology,” by Lisa Nocks, ISIS, December 2009, 100 (4), p. 890-891.

Asaro, P. (2001). “Techno-prophesy: Fantasy or Theology?” A Review of Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind by Hans Moravec, in Minds and Machines, February 2001, 11 (1), pp. 143-147.

Asaro, P. (2001). “A Review of Talking Nets: An Oral History of Neural Networks ,” by James A. Anderson and Edward Rosenfeld (eds.), in The Journal of the History of Neurosciences, 10 (1), pp. 122-124.

Asaro, P. (2001). “A Review ofEnchanted Looms: Conscious Networks in Brains and Computers,” by Rodney Cotterill, in The Journal of the History of Neurosciences, 10 (2), pp. 218-220.

Asaro, P. (1998). “A Review of Technology and the Politics of Knowledge,” by Andrew Feenberg and Alastair Hannay (eds.), in The Information Society, 14 (1).

Dissertation

Asaro, P. (2006). “On the Origins of the Synthetic Mind: Working Models, Mechanisms and Simulations.” Submitted for completion of the doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Selected Conferences & Proceedings

Asaro, P. (2016). “Will #BlackLivesMatter to RoboCop?,” WeRobot 2016, University of Miami School of Law, Miami, FL, April 1-2, 2016.

Asaro, P. (2016). “The Liability Problem for Autonomous Artificial Agents,”AAAI Symposium on Ethical and Moral Considerations in Non-Human Agents, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, March 21-23, 2016.

Asaro, P. (2015). “Regulating Robots: A Multi-Scale Approach to Developing Robot Policy and Technology,” WeRobot 2015, University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, WA, April 10-11, 2015.

Asaro, P., and Diana Marina Cooper (2014). “Robots, Micro-Airspaces, and the Future of ‘Public Space’,” WeRobot 2014, University of Miami School of Law, Miami, FL, April 4-5, 2014.

Asaro, P. (2007). “Robots and Responsibility from a Legal Perspective,” Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Robotics and Automation, Workshop on Roboethics, Rome, April 14, 2007.

Asaro, P. (2002). “Let Us Now Forget.” A response to Geoffrey Bowker's Memory Practices in the Sciences and Synchronization 4: Hermes, Angels and the Narrative of the Archive. Presented at the Workshop on New Ontologies: Transdisciplinary Objects at the University of Illinois, Urbana, March 29-30th, 2002.

Jones, P. M., Hayes, C. C., Asaro, P., Fleury, T., Gwon, Y., Ergan, H., Lu, L., and N. Tu. (2001). “Collaboration Architecture for Intelligence Planning and Analysis: Beyond CoRAVEN," Proceedings of the 2001 Army Research Laboratory Federated Labs 5th Annual Symposium, Advanced Displays and Interactive Displays Consortium. College Park, MD, March 2001.

Hayes, C., R. Penner, H. Ergan, L. Lu, N. Tu, P. Jones, P. Asaro, R. Bargar, O. Chernyshenko, I. Choi, N. Danner, O. Mengshoel, J. Sniezek, D. Wilkins. “CoRAVEN: Model-Based Design of a Cognitive Tool for Real-Time Intelligence Monitoring and Analysis.” Proceedings of the 2000 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics.Nashville, TN, October 2000, Volume 2, pp. 1117-1122.

Jones, P. M., Hayes, C. C., Wilkins, D. C., Bargar, R., Sniezek, J., Asaro, P., Danner, N., Eychaner, J., Chernyshenko, S., Schrah, G., Ergan, H., Lu, L., Tu, N. and Schlabach, J. (2000). “CoRAVEN: Knowledge-Based Support for Intelligence Analysis,” Proceedings of the 2000 Army Research Laboratory Federated Labs 4th Annual Symposium, Advanced Displays and Interactive Displays Consortium. College Park, MD, March 2000.

Asaro, P. (1999). “Transforming Society by Transforming Technology: The Science and Politics of Participatory Design," Workshop on: Information Technology and Critical Theory in the New Millenium: Is there still hope? at the Critical Management Studies Conference, Hulme Hall, Manchester University, July 14-16, 1999.

Jones, P. M., Hayes, C. C., Wilkins, D. C., Bargar, R., Sniezek, J., Asaro, P., Mengshoel, O., Kessler, D., Lucenti, M., Choi, I. Tu, N. and Schlabach, J. (1999). “CoRAVEN: Modeling and Design of a Multimedia Intelligent Infrastructure for Collaborative Intelligence Analysis,” Proceedings of the 1999 Army Research Laboratory Federated Labs 3rd Annual Symposium, Advanced Displays and Interactive Displays Consortium. College Park, MD, March 1999.

Jones, P. M., Hayes, C. C., Wilkins, D. C., Bargar, R., Sniezek, J., Asaro, P., Mengshoel, O., Kessler, D., Lucenti, M., Choi, I. Tu, N. and Schlabach, J. (1998). “CoRAVEN: Modeling and Design of a Multimedia Intelligent Infrastructure for Collaborative Intelligence Analysis,” Proceedings of the 1998 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, San Diego, CA, October 1998, Volume 1, pp. 914-919.

Asaro, P. (1994) “Connections, Symbols, and the Meaning of Intelligence.” Illinois Wesleyan University, Psychology Honors Thesis, Paper 108, pp. 1-46.

Asaro, P. (1994) “A Case for Private Language," Undergraduate Review: Vol. 7: Iss. 1, Article 4, pp. 1-7.

Asaro. P. (1993) “Methodological Solipsism Reconsidered: Is There Anybody Out There?," Undergraduate Review: Vol. 6: Iss. 1, Article 7, pp. 13-22.