A Computational Model of Commonsense Moral Decision Making

2018/01/12 by Richard Kim, Max Kleiman‐Weiner, Kim, Richard +11 · 1 citation
Neuroscience · Social Sciences · #Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI) #Ethics and Social Impacts of AI #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1801.04346

openalex publication_date 2018/01/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We introduce a new computational model of moral decision making, drawing on a recent theory of commonsense moral learning via social dynamics. Our model describes moral dilemmas as a utility function that computes trade-offs in values over abstract moral dimensions, which provide interpretable parameter values when implemented in machine-led ethical decision-making. Moreover, characterizing the social structures of individuals and groups as a hierarchical Bayesian model, we show that a useful description of an individual's moral values - as well as a group's shared values - can be inferred from a limited amount of observed data. Finally, we apply and evaluate our approach to data from the Moral Machine, a web application that collects human judgments on moral dilemmas involving autonomous vehicles.

Citations

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• The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment.
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