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A new debate has arisen about the ethics of interacting with these realistic agents\u2014and in particular, whether any harms arise from \u2018mistreatment\u2019 of such agents. In this paper, we advance this debate by discussing a model we have developed (\u2018BabyX\u2019), which simulates a human infant. The model produces realistic behaviours\u2014and it does so using a schematic model of certain human brain mechanisms. We first consider harms that may arise due to effects<jats:italic>on the user<\/jats:italic>\u2014in particular effects on the user\u2019s behaviour towards real babies. We then consider whether there\u2019s any need to consider harms from the \u2018perspective\u2019<jats:italic>of the simulated baby<\/jats:italic>. The first topic raises practical ethical questions, many of which are empirical in nature. We argue the potential for harm is real enough to warrant restrictions on the use of BabyX. The second topic raises a very different set of questions in the philosophy of mind. Here, we argue that BabyX\u2019s biologically inspired model of emotions raises important moral questions, and places BabyX in a different category from avatars whose emotional behaviours are \u2018faked\u2019 by simple rules. This argument counters John Danaher\u2019s recently proposed \u2018moral behaviourism\u2019. We conclude that the developers of simulated humans have useful contributions to make to debates about moral patiency\u2014and also have certain new responsibilities in relation to the simulations they build.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s43681-021-00076-x","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,26]],"date-time":"2021-07-26T11:02:37Z","timestamp":1627297357000},"page":"115-128","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["The ethics of interaction with neurorobotic agents: a case study with BabyX"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"2","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3036-4668","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alistair","family":"Knott","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Mark","family":"Sagar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Martin","family":"Takac","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"76_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"451","DOI":"10.1207\/S15327078IN0404_01","volume":"4","author":"L Adamson","year":"2003","unstructured":"Adamson, L., Frick, J.: Research with the face-to-face still-face paradigm: a review. 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