Consequentialism & Machine Ethics: Towards a Foundational Machine Ethic to Ensure the Right Action of Artificial Moral Agents

Montreal AI Ethics Institute (2020)
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Abstract

In this paper, I argue that Consequentialism represents a kind of ethical theory that is the most plausible to serve as a basis for a machine ethic. First, I outline the concept of an artificial moral agent and the essential properties of Consequentialism. Then, I present a scenario involving autonomous vehicles to illustrate how the features of Consequentialism inform agent action. Thirdly, an alternative Deontological approach will be evaluated and the problem of moral conflict discussed. Finally, two bottom-up approaches to the development of machine ethics are presented and briefly challenged.

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Josiah Della Foresta
McGill University

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References found in this work

When is a robot a moral agent.John P. Sullins - 2006 - International Review of Information Ethics 6 (12):23-30.
Moral Theory: An Introduction.Mark Timmons - 2001 - Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Prospects for a Kantian machine.Thomas M. Powers - 2006 - IEEE Intelligent Systems 21 (4):46-51.
Computational Models of Ethical Reasoning: Challenges, Initial Steps, and Future Directions.Bruce M. McLaren - 2011 - In M. Anderson S. Anderson (ed.), Machine Ethics. Cambridge Univ. Press. pp. 297--315.

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