Artificial Moral Responsibility: How We Can and Cannot Hold Machines Responsible

Area of Science:

• Ethics
• Artificial Intelligence
• Philosophy of Technology

Background:

• The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into high-stakes fields like medicine and warfare raises concerns about moral responsibility.
• A widening responsibility gap may emerge due to AI's increasing autonomy, challenging traditional notions of accountability.
• The development of artificial moral agents (AMAs) is considered inevitable, necessitating new frameworks for responsibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how artificially intelligent systems can be held morally responsible.
• To address the challenge of the responsibility gap in the context of emerging AI technologies.
• To propose a foundation for a workable concept of artificial moral responsibility.

Main Methods:

• Review of contemporary theories of moral responsibility.
• Analysis of the implications of artificial moral agents (AMAs) on existing ethical and legal norms.
• Development of a conceptual framework for artificial moral responsibility.

Main Results:

• Traditional concepts of responsibility may be insufficient for addressing AI autonomy.
• A plausible foundation for artificial moral responsibility can be established by adapting current ethical theories.
• Ignoring the need for updated norms risks an inability to regulate AI and assign responsibility for harms.

Conclusions:

• Holding artificially intelligent systems responsible is crucial for their ethical deployment.
• A proactive approach to updating moral and legal norms is necessary to bridge the responsibility gap.
• This work provides a foundation for developing practical artificial moral responsibility frameworks.