A Survey of Machine Ethics

This chapter introduces, and gives an overview of, the field of Machine Ethics. Assuming no prior knowledge on the topic by the readers, this chapter can be taken as a standalone chapter for those just interested in learning more about this area. The chapter begins by drawing the distinction between ethical machines and ethical decision machines before going on to examine some earlier attempts to create machines with the ability to tell between right and wrong. After this, some arguments against building moral machines are discussed, before giving an overview of tests for morality—how do we know when we have successfully built a moral machine? The chapter ends with an overview of AI Alignment, by discussing similarities and differences in this pursuit and Machine Ethics.