Tin Men: Ethics, Cybernetics and the Importance of Soul

Morkevičius, Valerie

doi:10.1080/15027570.2014.908011

Cited by 26 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The debates between optimists and pessimists, delineated above, are also debates about the role of human virtue. As we have seen, while technology optimists will typically claim that lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) will be superior to more human-driven systems because they tend toward an elimination of mistakes based on errors of judgment and the distortions introduced by strong emotion (Arkin 2010), those on the other side of the debate fear that military decision-making will suffer greatly if prudential reasoning, including such typically human phenomena as doubt and conscience, will be weakened, and war will be waged "without soul" (Morkevicius 2014;Riza 2013).…”

Section: Virtue Ethics and Human-ai Interactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying AI on the Battlefield: The Ethical Debates

Reichberg

Syse

2021

Robotics, AI, and Humanity

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Because lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) are designed to make targeting decisions without the direct intervention of human agents (who are “out of the killing loop”), considerable debate has arisen on whether this mode of autonomous targeting should be deemed morally permissible. Surveying the contours of this debate, the authors first present a prominent ethical argument that has been advanced in favor of LAWS, namely, that AI-directed robotic combatants have an advantage over their human counterparts, insofar as the former operate solely on the basis of rational assessment, while the latter are often swayed by emotions that conduce to poor judgment. Several counter arguments are then presented, inter alia, (1) that emotions have a positive influence on moral judgment and are indispensable to it; (2) that it is a violation of human dignity to be killed by a machine, as opposed to being killed by a human being; and (3) that the honor of the military profession hinges on maintaining an equality of risk between combatants, an equality that would be removed if one side delegates its fighting to robots. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the moral challenges posed by human-AI teaming in battlefield settings, and how virtue ethics provides a valuable framework for addressing these challenges.

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Section: Virtue Ethics and Human-ai Interactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying AI on the Battlefield: The Ethical Debates

Reichberg

Syse

2021

Robotics, AI, and Humanity

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show abstract

“…184  Attempting to reduce morality to an algorithm is an exercise with implications for the wider Just War debate. As Morkevicius (2013) observes, the very process of debating the potential for autonomous systems with the capacity for moral deliberation may throw wider, unresolved issues with JWT and IHL into focus: 'Developing fully autonomous military robots should be doubly desirable: the technical process of "teaching" robots ethics would finally systematise Just War thinking, while robots could uphold the rules of engagement even under the most emotionally trying of situations'. 185 Against this, however, are arguments that the morality of war is not meant to be systematised or rules-based; rather, it derives its potency and utility from being a 'living tradition'.…”

Section: Important Outstanding Questions Includementioning

confidence: 99%

“…45 Interview with Jackie Schiller. 46 Detailed account in Morkevicius (2013); also highlighted in workshop discussions. 47 Morkevicius (2013), Lucas (2013b), highlighted in interview with Eyal Benvenisti and workshop discussions.…”

Section: Moral Uncertainty Inherent To War and Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…36 Morkevicius (2013), Cornish (2002Cornish ( , 2007Cornish ( , 2013. 37 Interview with Jeff McMahan, see also Cornish (2002Cornish ( , 2007.…”

Section: Moral Uncertainty Inherent To War and Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…93 Morkevicius (2013). 'Conscience' may be seen as a synonym of a 'soul' (term used in traditional JWT discussion).…”

Section: Action In 'Unjust Wars'mentioning

confidence: 99%

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