The Dawn of the AI Robots: Towards a New Framework of AI Robot Accountability

Zsófia Tóth (), Robert Caruana, Thorsten Gruber and Claudia Loebbecke
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Zsófia Tóth: Durham University
Robert Caruana: University of Nottingham
Thorsten Gruber: University of Loughborough
Claudia Loebbecke: University of Cologne

Journal of Business Ethics, 2022, vol. 178, issue 4, No 3, 895-916

Abstract: Abstract Business, management, and business ethics literature pay little attention to the topic of AI robots. The broad spectrum of potential ethical issues pertains to using driverless cars, AI robots in care homes, and in the military, such as Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems. However, there is a scarcity of in-depth theoretical, methodological, or empirical studies that address these ethical issues, for instance, the impact of morality and where accountability resides in AI robots’ use. To address this dearth, this study offers a conceptual framework that interpretively develops the ethical implications of AI robot applications, drawing on descriptive and normative ethical theory. The new framework elaborates on how the locus of morality (human to AI agency) and moral intensity combine within context-specific AI robot applications, and how this might influence accountability thinking. Our theorization indicates that in situations of escalating AI agency and situational moral intensity, accountability is widely dispersed between actors and institutions. ‘Accountability clusters’ are outlined to illustrate interrelationships between the locus of morality, moral intensity, and accountability and how these invoke different categorical responses: (i) illegal, (ii) immoral, (iii) permissible, and (iv) supererogatory pertaining to using AI robots. These enable discussion of the ethical implications of using AI robots, and associated accountability challenges for a constellation of actors—from designer, individual/organizational users to the normative and regulative approaches of industrial/governmental bodies and intergovernmental regimes.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; AI robots; Descriptive ethical theory; Normative ethical theory; Locus of morality; Moral intensity; Accountability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-022-05050-z

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