GenEth: a general ethical dilemma analyzer

We argue that ethically significant behavior of autonomous systems should be guided by explicit ethical principles determined through a consensus of ethicists. Such a consensus is likely to emerge in many areas in which intelligent autonomous systems are apt to be deployed and for the actions they a...

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Main Authors: Anderson Michael, Anderson Susan Leigh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: De Gruyter 2018-11-01
Series:Paladyn
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1515/pjbr-2018-0024
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author Anderson Michael
Anderson Susan Leigh
author_facet Anderson Michael
Anderson Susan Leigh
author_sort Anderson Michael
collection DOAJ
description We argue that ethically significant behavior of autonomous systems should be guided by explicit ethical principles determined through a consensus of ethicists. Such a consensus is likely to emerge in many areas in which intelligent autonomous systems are apt to be deployed and for the actions they are liable to undertake, as we are more likely to agree on how machines ought to treat us than on how human beings ought to treat one another. Given such a consensus, particular cases of ethical dilemmas where ethicists agree on the ethically relevant features and the right course of action can be used to help discover principles needed for ethical guidance of the behavior of autonomous systems. Such principles help ensure the ethical behavior of complex and dynamic systems and further serve as a basis for justification of this behavior. To provide assistance in discovering ethical principles, we have developed GenEth, a general ethical dilemma analyzer that, through a dialog with ethicists, uses inductive logic programming to codify ethical principles in any given domain. GenEth has been used to codify principles in a number of domains pertinent to the behavior of autonomous systems and these principles have been verified using an Ethical Turing Test, a test devised to compare the judgments of codified principles with that of ethicists.
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spelling doaj.art-421eb3a2e4e14773a32c621f19e4e97a2023-12-02T11:51:36ZengDe GruyterPaladyn2081-48362018-11-019133735710.1515/pjbr-2018-0024pjbr-2018-0024GenEth: a general ethical dilemma analyzerAnderson Michael0Anderson Susan Leigh1University of Hartford, West Hartford,Connecticut, USAUniversity of Connecticut, Storrs,Connecticut, USAWe argue that ethically significant behavior of autonomous systems should be guided by explicit ethical principles determined through a consensus of ethicists. Such a consensus is likely to emerge in many areas in which intelligent autonomous systems are apt to be deployed and for the actions they are liable to undertake, as we are more likely to agree on how machines ought to treat us than on how human beings ought to treat one another. Given such a consensus, particular cases of ethical dilemmas where ethicists agree on the ethically relevant features and the right course of action can be used to help discover principles needed for ethical guidance of the behavior of autonomous systems. Such principles help ensure the ethical behavior of complex and dynamic systems and further serve as a basis for justification of this behavior. To provide assistance in discovering ethical principles, we have developed GenEth, a general ethical dilemma analyzer that, through a dialog with ethicists, uses inductive logic programming to codify ethical principles in any given domain. GenEth has been used to codify principles in a number of domains pertinent to the behavior of autonomous systems and these principles have been verified using an Ethical Turing Test, a test devised to compare the judgments of codified principles with that of ethicists.https://doi.org/10.1515/pjbr-2018-0024machine ethicsethical turing testmachine learninginductive logic programming
spellingShingle Anderson Michael
Anderson Susan Leigh
GenEth: a general ethical dilemma analyzer
Paladyn
machine ethics
ethical turing test
machine learning
inductive logic programming
title GenEth: a general ethical dilemma analyzer
title_full GenEth: a general ethical dilemma analyzer
title_fullStr GenEth: a general ethical dilemma analyzer
title_full_unstemmed GenEth: a general ethical dilemma analyzer
title_short GenEth: a general ethical dilemma analyzer
title_sort geneth a general ethical dilemma analyzer
topic machine ethics
ethical turing test
machine learning
inductive logic programming
url https://doi.org/10.1515/pjbr-2018-0024
work_keys_str_mv AT andersonmichael genethageneralethicaldilemmaanalyzer
AT andersonsusanleigh genethageneralethicaldilemmaanalyzer