Open AccessComputing morality: Synthetic ethical decision making and behaviour
Author(s) -
Crook Nigel,
Nugent Selin,
Rolf Matthias,
Baimel Adam,
Raper Rebecca
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
cognitive computation and systems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2517-7567
DOI - 10.1049/ccs2.12028
Subject(s) - morality , moral agency , agency (philosophy) , competence (human resources) , environmental ethics , sociology , engineering ethics , epistemology , political science , social science , social psychology , psychology , law , philosophy , engineering
We find ourselves at a unique point of time in history. Following over two millennia of debate amongst some of the greatest minds that ever existed about the nature of morality, the philosophy of ethics and the attributes of moral agency, and after all that time still not having reached consensus, we are coming to a point where artificial intelligence (AI) technology is enabling the creation of machines that will possess a convincing degree of moral competence. The existence of these machines will undoubtedly have an impact on this age old debate, but we believe that they will have a greater impact on society at large, as AI technology deepens its integration into the social fabric of our world. The purpose of this special issue on Computing Morality is to bring together different perspectives on this technology and its impact on society. The special issue contains four very different and inspiring contributions.