Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The Ethics of Life as It Could Be: Do We Have Moral Obligations to Artificial Life?

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Let's start simply: is it morally wrong to lie to an AI? Suppose we knew the AI would be used by governments to evaluate job applications and we knew it was scraping our website. Would it be wrong to post false information knowing it would mean the AI does not recommend your enemy for emplyment? This paper (9 page PDF) (also) doesn't consider this question, but it does speak in more general terms about the level of rights an AI may have, and our responsibilities toward them. On what basis do we assign rights: embodiment? Consciousness? Sentience? Consider how some people argue that animals have rights, and even some plants may have rights (for example: the right not to be made extinct). This is a good general level introduction to these issues, and would offer a good starting point for people new to ethics.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Dec 22, 2024 06:06 a.m.

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