Mapping the ethic‐theoretical foundations of artificial intelligence research

Abstract

The issue of artificial intelligence (AI) ethics is a prominent research subject. While there is a compendious literature that explores this area, surprisingly little of it makes explicit reference to the ethic‐theoretical foundations upon which it is built. To address this matter, this study makes an examination of the AI ethics literature to identify its ethic‐theoretical foundations. The study identifies the lack of AI ethics literature that draws upon seminal ethics works and the ensuing disconnectedness among the publications on this subject. It also uncovers numerous non‐Western ethic‐theoretical positions that can be adopted and may afford new insight into AI ethics research and practice. Employing these alternative lenses may obviate the tendency for Western worldviews to dominate the academic literature. The study provides some guidance for future AI ethics research which should endeavor to clearly articulate its chosen ethic‐theoretical position, and for practice which could benefit from understanding and articulating the principles upon which AI systems are founded. It also provides some observations of, and guidance for, the utilization of Litmaps software in the conduct of Literature reviews.