Artificial Intelligence as a Means to Moral Enhancement

Abstract

Abstract. This paper critically assesses the possibility of moral enhancement with ambient intelligence technologies and artificial intelligence presented in Savulescu and Maslen (2015). The main problem with their proposal is that it is not robust enough to play a normative role in users' behavior. A more promising approach, and the one presented in the paper, relies on an artificial moral reasoning engine, which is designed to present its users with moral arguments grounded in first-order normative theories, such as Kantianism or utilitarianism, that reason-responsive people can be persuaded by. This proposal can play a normative role and it is also a more promising avenue towards moral enhancement. It is more promising because such a system can be designed to take advantage of the sometimes undue trust that people put in automated technologies. We could therefore expect a well-designed moral reasoner system to be able to persuade people that may not be persuaded by similar arguments from other people. So, all things considered, there is hope in artificial intelligence for moral enhancement, but not in artificial intelligence that relies solely on ambient intelligence technologies.

Virtual Reality and Empathy Enhancement: Ethical Aspects

“…From the very beginning, the contemporary debate on moral enhancement has predominantly been a discussion about moral bio-enhancement, that is, the ethical considerations of using biotechnologies such as gene editing, pharmacological drugs, or neurological interventions in order to improve our moral behavior (Douglas, 2008 , 2013 ; Faust, 2008 ; Persson and Savulescu, 2008 , 2012 ; DeGrazia, 2014 ; Harris, 2016 ). More recently, moral enhancement through the use of Artificial Intelligence is increasingly being considered (Whitby, 2011 ; Savulescu and Maslen, 2015 ; Klincewizc, 2016 ; Giubilini and Savulescu, 2017 ; Lara and Deckers, 2020 ). One of the aims of this research paper consists of broadening the horizons of the moral enhancement debate.…”

Artificial Intelligence as a Socratic Assistant for Moral Enhancement

“…See, for example, Douglas [4] and DeGrazia [5]. 15 Muir [45] and Klincewicz (p. 181) [46] maintain something similar.…”

Teasing out Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: An Ethical Critique of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Medicine

“…It is posited that ethically orientated and directed AI may be a partial solution to the contemporary "moral lag problem" (Klincewicz 2016).…”