Case-Supported Principle-Based Behavior Paradigm

Abstract

We assert that ethical decision-making is, to a degree, computable. Some claim that no actions can be said to be ethically correct because all value judgments are relative either to societies or individuals. We maintain, however, along with most ethicists, that there is agreement on the ethically relevant features in many particular cases of ethical dilemmas and on the right course of action in those cases. Just as stories of disasters often overshadow positive stories in the news, so difficult ethical issues are often the subject of discussion rather than those that have been resolved, making it seem as if there is no consensus in ethics. Although, admittedly, a consensus of ethicists may not exist for a number of domains and actions, such a consensus is likely to emerge in many areas in which intelligent autonomous systems are likely to be deployed and for the actions they are likely to undertake.