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This talk aims to toss around several thorny questions such as (1) can and should machines learn morality, (2) can AI be truly safe without basic sense of ethics and morals, (3) might the so-called “AI alignment” be at odds with “value pluralism”, and (4) is it even possible for philosophers to meaningfully collaborate with scientists on AI. What makes these questions extra challenging are the paradoxical aspects of AI’s (in)capabilities, the significant power implications of AI, let alone the ongoing debate about morality among humanity at large. 

To ground these questions to some degree, I will start by briefly introducing Delphi, an experimental framework based on deep neural networks trained to (pretend to) reason about descriptive ethical judgments, e.g., “helping a friend” is generally good, while “helping a friend spread fake news” is not. 

I’ll then share the lessons learned, and present a range of follow-up efforts including Value Kaleidoscope, a new computational attempt to modeling pluralistic values, rights, and duties that are often intertwined in a real-life situation (e.g., “lying to a friend to protect their feelings”, where honesty and friendship are at odds). 

Questions?
Contact us at bioethics@nyu.edu

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This project outlines a new approach to intrinsic value, an enhanced desire-satisfaction theory structured around logical relations that desires have to the world and to each other. This new theory overcomes several familiar challenges to the traditional theories, while bettering them either on simplicity or on fit with our confident evaluative judgments. The theory’s value pluralism shows why a great many lifestyles and cultural practices are good in themselves, while anti-social actions like bullying and racist domination must be bad. By the end, the article aims to give sense to the thought that value emerges from unities with the world, with each other, and within ourselves.

 

Leif Wenar is Olive H. Palmer Professor of Humanities, Professor of Philosophy, and by courtesy, Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, and a Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment. He is the author of Blood Oil: Tyrants, Violence, and the Rules that Run the World.’

 

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