Reconstructing AI Ethics Principles: Rawlsian Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

Area of Science:

• Ethics
• Artificial Intelligence
• Political Philosophy

Background:

• The proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) necessitates ethical guidelines for its development.
• Current AI ethics guidelines often lack robust ethical justifications and overlook AI's societal impacts on democracy and governance.
• AI technologies pose potential threats to core democratic principles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply John Rawls's theory of justice to develop philosophically justified AI ethics guidelines.
• To broaden the discourse on AI ethics by incorporating a societal justice perspective.
• To provide practical principles for operationalizing AI ethics in alignment with Rawlsian concepts.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of existing AI ethics guidelines.
• Application of Rawls's theory of justice, specifically justice as fairness and its key concepts.
• Development of a proposed framework for AI ethics guidelines.

Main Results:

• Identified deficiencies in current AI ethics guidelines regarding ethical justification and democratic impact.
• Demonstrated the relevance of Rawls's theory of justice to contemporary AI ethics challenges.
• Proposed a set of principles for operationalizing AI ethics based on Rawlsian justice.

Conclusions:

• Rawls's theory of justice offers a strong foundation for creating more ethically robust and societally aware AI guidelines.
• Integrating philosophical theories like Rawls's can enhance the justification and scope of AI ethics frameworks.
• The proposed guidelines aim to steer AI development towards greater ethical alignment and societal justice.