Abstract
Autonomous cyber-physical systems (ACPS) integrate computational and physical capabilities that actively shape our physical reality. As these systems may execute a task without the permission of a human agent, they raise major safety and responsibility issues. To identify these issues, we conducted a critical and scoping review of the literature from many disciplines. The innovative methodology we used combines bibliometrics techniques, grounded theory, and a critical conceptual framework to analyze the structure of the field. The findings show that there are certain ironies in the way in which responsibility for apparently safe autonomous systems is apportioned. These ironies draw attention to the challenges of safety and responsibility with ACPS in our increasingly digital world. We make eight recommendations based on the gaps that we have identified in the literature and conclude by suggesting five areas for future IS research. These areas are related to socio-technical systems, critical research, safety, responsibility, and trust.
This paper is co-authored with Frantz Rowe, Maximiliano Jeanneret Medina, Benoit Journé, and Emmanuel Coetard and is currently under review.