AI and Ethics: The Challenge of Building Ethics into Machines

Humans are creating artificial intelligence machines that are already making important decisions in our lives. The challenge is to build ethics into these machines. AI systems that learn are the most relevant kind of intelligence. Unlike older AI methods that relied on logical processing and human programming, learning machines have the potential to advance our understanding and decision-making processes. For instance, AlphaGo, a learning AI system, was able to discover new strategies and defeat a world champion in the game of Go. However, giving machines responsibilities raises questions about holding them accountable and ensuring moral decision-making. While machines can have responsibilities, they lack self-reflection, consciousness, and moral emotions that are crucial for full moral agency. Nonetheless, societies must seriously consider the ethical implications and determine how machines can respond to morally relevant features of situations.