Artificial intelligence and moral dilemmas: Perception of ethical decision-making in AI

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become deeply integrated into daily life; thus, it is important to examine how people perceive AI as it functions as a decision-maker, especially in situations involving moral dilemmas. Across four studies (N = 804), we found that people perceive AI as more likely to make utilitarian choices than human beings are (Studies1–4). We then measured people's perceptions (both warmth and competence) toward AI and explored their potential contributions to our predicted main effect (Study 2). In addition, our main effect was replicated in impersonal moral dilemma and personal high-conflict moral dilemma situations (Studies 3 and 4). We discuss the implications of these findings on moral dilemma and human–computer interactions.