A Process to Enforce Ethical Requirements of Autonomous Systems
Published in International Conference on Software Engineering for Adaptive and Self-Managing Systems 2026
M. De Sanctis, G. Filippone, P. Inverardi, R. Mirandola, S. Pettinari, P. Scandurra. A Process to Enforce Ethical Requirements of Autonomous Systems. International Conference on Software Engineering for Adaptive and Self-Managing Systems. toappear, 2026
Abstract
This paper addresses the challenge of enforcing ethical behaviors at runtime in autonomous systems through a structured ethics assurance process. At the core of this process is a subsystem that rigorously operationalizes ethical rules, specifically social, legal, ethical, empathetic, and cultural (SLEEC) requirements. This subsystem enables the dynamic evaluation, adaptation, and enforcement of ethically compliant behavior within a formally defined runtime model. The proposed approach, named SLEEC@run.time, is demonstrated through a running example involving firefighter-uncrewed aerial vehicles. In addition, by leveraging its flexible runtime model, SLEEC@run.time accommodates changes such as the addition or removal of SLEEC rules, ensuring a robust and evolvable approach to ethical assurance in autonomous systems.
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