Artificial Moral Agency and Patiency

This chapter explores the intricate concepts of moral agency and moral patiency in the context of AI and robotics. It begins by examining the definition and categorizations of moral agency, with a specific focus on the notion of “mindless morality,” which posits that AI systems can be considered as moral agents irrespective of their possession of consciousness. The chapter critiques this view by challenging its underlying assumption that machine consciousness is fundamentally indeterminable. It then delves into the concept of moral patiency, addressing issues like instrumentalism and the animal-robot analogy. The chapter argues against crude instrumentalism and premature dismissal of the animal-robot analogy, given the many uncertainties surrounding the future developments in robotics.