When Technology Becomes A Moral Actor |
Artificial intelligence has emerged as an enigmatic technological agency, creating a seismic impact on human life worldwide. The wonder of the invention of AI technology can be compared to that of the Egyptian pyramids.
AI is not just a technological tool but an agency. ‘Agency’ refers to the capability of agents to act intelligently either for themselves or at the behest of others. AI, as an agency, has been presenting both indefinite prospects and challenges for humanity. Like human and corporate agencies, AI is not independent of ethical consequences.
A cognitive and computer scientist, John McCarthy, who coined the expression Artificial Intelligence in 1956, had a research problem: whether machines can be intelligent. To be intelligent is to solve problems. A ‘machine’ means a robot, computer, or computer program. Certainly, like human agents, machines can act intelligently. Now, the important question is whether machines can be ethical. By acquiring agentic capabilities, AI is subject to the ethics of fairness, transparency, privacy, and accountability for the common good of humanity.
Fairness is a key ethical value essential for AI governance. Moral and political philosopher John Rawls’s notion of justice as fairness holds that fairness must underpin........