Debunking Cognition. Why AI Moral Enhancement Should Focus on Identity

This chapter aims to challenge the cognitivist bias in debates surrounding AI-based and general moral enhancement and introduces the concept of moral identity as an alternative. The primary objective is to establish moral identity as an important and empirically adequate focal point for moral enhancement interventions. While an emphasis on cognition might preserve autonomy, it fails to present an adequate picture of moral self-governance. As the chapter argues, cognition does not play the central role in moral conduct we may desire. This also applies to higher-order abilities. The focus on identity aligns with philosophical perspectives that place identity at the core of moral agency and recognizes that often it is our will, not reasoning ability, that affects our moral behavior. Furthermore, moral identity captures the agential dimension of enhancement in a potentially morally neutral and autonomy-respecting manner. As such, it offers a promising approach for improving moral conduct through AI-based interventions while being grounded in evidence from state-of-the-art empirical research.