Responsible AI and moral responsibility: a common appreciation

Abstract

Responsibility is among the most widespread buzzwords in the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. Yet, the term often remains unsubstantiated when employed in these important technological domains. Indeed, notions like ‘responsible AI’ and ‘responsible robotics’ may sound appealing, for they seem to convey a sense of moral goodness or ethical approval, thereby inciting psychological connections to self-regulation, social acceptance, or political correctness. For AI and ethics to come together in truly harmonious ways, we will need to work toward establishing a common appreciation. In this commentary, I breakdown three varieties of the term and invoke insights from the analytic ethics literature as a means of offering a robust understanding of moral responsibility in emerging technology. While I do not wish to accuse any parties of incorrect usage, my hope is that together researchers in AI and ethics can be better positioned to appreciate and to develop notions of responsibility for technological domains.