Can intelligent machines think well on our behalf?

Determine whether intelligent machines can adequately "think well" on behalf of humans in crucial decisions, or whether essential elements of human deliberation—specifically doubt, empathy, and practical wisdom—are irreducibly beyond algorithmic systems and thus cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence.

Background

In the ethical framing of AI’s role in decision-making, the text highlights a core dilemma drawn from Michael Sandel’s work: whether machine-based reasoning can genuinely substitute for the nuanced, value-laden processes of human judgment. This is presented as a live uncertainty tied directly to AI’s societal deployment in consequential domains.

The authors explicitly mark this as an unresolved issue in 2025, framing it as a fundamental question about the limits of algorithmic decision-making relative to human faculties such as doubt, empathy, and practical wisdom.