Administrative Information
| Title | Duty Ethics |
| Duration | 60 |
| Module | A |
| Lesson Type | Lecture |
| Focus | Ethical - Ethics Fundamentals |
| Topic | Duty Ethics |
Keywords
Duty ethics,Kant,
Learning Goals
- Learner can assess choices on what subjects are ought to do.
- Learner understands the concept of moral.
- Learner has basic understanding of how those points relate to AI.
Expected Preparation
Learning Events to be Completed Before
None.
Obligatory for Students
None.
Optional for Students
- Duty ethics - Kant: School of Life - Kant & Categorical Imperatives: Crash Course Philosophy#35.
- Kranak, J. Introduction to Philosophy: Ethics. Chapter 6. Kantian Deontology. [1]
- Gensler, H. J. (2017). Ethics: A contemporary introduction. Routledge. CH 7 Kant and GR, CH11 Nonconsequentialism (deontology)
- Kantian ethics. Otfried Höffe. In Roger Crisp (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the History of Ethics. Oxford University Press (2013)
References and background for students
None.
Recommended for Teachers
- Ulgen, Ozlem. "Kantian ethics in the age of artificial intelligence and robotics." QIL 43 (2017): 59-83. [2]
- Alexander, Larry, and Michael Moore "Deontological Ethics" on Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 21 Nov. 2007, [3].
- I. Kant “Critique of Practical Reason,” (1788) and “Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals” (1785)
- P.W. Singer, "Isaac Asimov’s Laws of Robotics Are Wrong", 2009. [4]
Instructions for Teachers
Topics to Cover
- Introduction: differences between different normative theories (5 min)
- Duty ethics (35 min)
- What is a "duty"? (5 min)
- Kant and the role of human reason (10 min)
- Maxims and imperatives - Example Code of Ethics and Professional practice (ACM/IEEE-CS) (15 min)
- Critics of duty ethics, pros and cons (5 min)
- Duty Ethics and AI (30 min)
- Examples of dilemmas (10 min) [Digital discrimination (Social Network Bias) and Autonomous vehicles]
- Trolley problem, different versions, with short discussion (10 min)
- Isaac Asimov’s laws of Robotics (5 min)
- Evaluating an action based on duty ethics (5 min)
Interactive moments
There are several interactive moments (e.g., short discussions) with students:
- Values: Questions that might be asked are:
- What values are particular important for you?
- Which contradictions do you see regarding values, do you have examples in which these contradictions occur?
- Duty ethics/obligations - Questions that might be asked are:
- What are possible problems with duty ethics in practise?
- Would you always do the right thing, even if it produces a bad result?
- Can you provide examples of the uses of the categorical imperative in everyday life?
- Duty ethics relation with AI: Questions that might be asked are:
- Do you think we could use a deontological moral model to provide a moral frame for AI?
- Do you believe the categorical imperative is applicable to AI?
- Would you ride a driverless cars that swerve to save pedestrians even at the expense of passengers?
Acknowledgements
The Human-Centered AI Masters programme was Co-Financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union Under Grant №CEF-TC-2020-1 Digital Skills 2020-EU-IA-0068.