article

Robot minds and human ethics: the need for a comprehensive model of moral decision making

Author:

Wendell WallachAuthors Info & Claims

Ethics and Information Technology, Volume 12, Issue 3

Pages 243 - 250

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-010-9232-8

Published: 01 September 2010 Publication History

Abstract

Building artificial moral agents (AMAs) underscores the fragmentary character of presently available models of human ethical behavior. It is a distinctly different enterprise from either the attempt by moral philosophers to illuminate the "ought" of ethics or the research by cognitive scientists directed at revealing the mechanisms that influence moral psychology, and yet it draws on both. Philosophers and cognitive scientists have tended to stress the importance of particular cognitive mechanisms, e.g., reasoning, moral sentiments, heuristics, intuitions, or a moral grammar, in the making of moral decisions. However, assembling a system from the bottom-up which is capable of accommodating moral considerations draws attention to the importance of a much wider array of mechanisms in honing moral intelligence. Moral machines need not emulate human cognitive faculties in order to function satisfactorily in responding to morally significant situations. But working through methods for building AMAs will have a profound effect in deepening an appreciation for the many mechanisms that contribute to a moral acumen, and the manner in which these mechanisms work together. Building AMAs highlights the need for a comprehensive model of how humans arrive at satisfactory moral judgments.

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Cited By

Tennant EHailes SMusolesi MElkind E(2023)Modeling moral choices in social dilemmas with multi-agent reinforcement learningProceedings of the Thirty-Second International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence10.24963/ijcai.2023/36(317-325)Online publication date: 19-Aug-2023
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White J(2022)Autonomous reboot: Aristotle, autonomy and the ends of machine ethicsAI & Society10.1007/s00146-020-01039-237:2(647-659)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2022
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Persaud PVarde AWang W(2021)Can Robots Get Some Human Rights? A Cross-Disciplinary DiscussionJournal of Robotics10.1155/2021/54617032021Online publication date: 1-Jan-2021
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cover image Ethics and Information Technology

Ethics and Information Technology Volume 12, Issue 3

September 2010

86 pages

ISSN:1388-1957

Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © Copyright © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

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Kluwer Academic Publishers

United States

Publication History

Published: 01 September 2010

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Cited By

Tennant EHailes SMusolesi MElkind E(2023)Modeling moral choices in social dilemmas with multi-agent reinforcement learningProceedings of the Thirty-Second International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence10.24963/ijcai.2023/36(317-325)Online publication date: 19-Aug-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.24963/ijcai.2023/36
White J(2022)Autonomous reboot: Aristotle, autonomy and the ends of machine ethicsAI & Society10.1007/s00146-020-01039-237:2(647-659)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s00146-020-01039-2
Persaud PVarde AWang W(2021)Can Robots Get Some Human Rights? A Cross-Disciplinary DiscussionJournal of Robotics10.1155/2021/54617032021Online publication date: 1-Jan-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1155/2021/5461703
Formosa PRyan M(2021)Making moral machines: why we need artificial moral agentsAI & Society10.1007/s00146-020-01089-636:3(839-851)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s00146-020-01089-6
Sharkey A(2020)Can we program or train robots to be good?Ethics and Information Technology10.1007/s10676-017-9425-522:4(283-295)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10676-017-9425-5
Hagendorff T(2017)Animal Rights and Robot EthicsInternational Journal of Technoethics10.4018/IJT.20170701058:2(61-71)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2017
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Hogan K(2017)Is the machine question the same question as the animal question?Ethics and Information Technology10.1007/s10676-017-9418-419:1(29-38)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10676-017-9418-4
Wynsberghe A(2016)Service robots, care ethics, and designEthics and Information Technology10.1007/s10676-016-9409-x18:4(311-321)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2016
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Malle B(2016)Integrating robot ethics and machine moralityEthics and Information Technology10.1007/s10676-015-9367-818:4(243-256)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10676-015-9367-8
Wiltshire T(2015)A Prospective Framework for the Design of Ideal Artificial Moral AgentsMinds and Machines10.1007/s11023-015-9361-225:1(57-71)Online publication date: 1-Feb-2015
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