Machine Ethics: The Creation of a Virtuous Machine

Abstract: AI was initially developed as an implicit moral agent to solve simple and clearly defined tasks where all options are predictable. However, it is now part of our daily life powering cell phones, cameras, watches, thermostats, vacuums, cars, and much more. This has raised numerous concerns and some scholars and practitioners stress the dangers of AI and argue against its development as moral agents that can reason about ethics (e.g., Bryson 2008; Johnson and Miller 2008; Sharkey 2017; Tonkens 2009; van Wynsberghe and Robbins 2019). Even though we acknowledge the potential threat, in line with most other scholars (e.g., Anderson and Anderson 2010; Moor 2006; Scheutz 2016; Wallach 2010), we argue that AI advancements cannot be stopped and developers need to prepare AI to sustain explicit moral agents and face ethical dilemmas in complex and morally salient environments.