faculteit wijsbegeerte

Ethics 3: Ethics of AI
Syllabus

Period 1a 2023-2024

Teacher

dr. H.M. Veluwenkamp

w: www.rug.nl/staff/h.m.veluwenkamp
Office hours: by appointment by e-mail

Course content
It is hard to imagine a technology that raises more ethical concerns than artificial
intelligence. Many large tech companies have invested in AI research centers, and the
European Commission has released its own guidelines calling for "trustworthy AI". In
this course we will investigate some of the major ethical issues that are raised by
current and future AI systems. Questions we consider include:

• How do we make sure autonomous AI systems pursue the right goals.

• Do future AI systems pose an existential threat?
• How do we prevent learning algorithms from acquiring morally objectionable
biases?
• Can an AI system be a moral agent? If so, how should we hold them
accountable?
• Can an AI system be a moral patient? If so, how do we know when this is so?
• Should autonomous AI be used to kill in warfare?
• What sort of ethical rules should AI like a self-driving car use?

Course goals
• To gain knowledge of philosophical issues involved in ethics of artificial
intelligence
• To develop skills in analysing literature from a fast-moving field

Organisation
A total of seven lectures will be given. See for details the program below.
The first lecture will take place on Thursday, September 7, 2023 at 15:00.

This information is subject to change. Check rooster.rug.nl, Brightspace and / or

other usual sources for most recent data and changes!

Study load
The study load is 5 ECTS.

1›5
 Examination
There are two components to the grading: weekly assignments and a final exam.

Weekly Assignments: These assignments will constitute 20% of the final grade. More
details will be provided in the first lecture.

Final Exam: At the end of the course, there will be an exam in which you will be required
to answer one or more essay questions (November 2th from 15:00 to 17:00). Potential
topics for the essay will be distributed in the last lecture, two weeks before the exam. The
exam will be open-book (the required readings will be available at the exam).

The final mark for the entire course is determined as follows: 0,2 * the average of weekly
assignments + 0,8 * the grade for the final exam. The weekly assignments are there to help
you get into the literature and discuss it with each other. As long as you seriously make all
weekly assignments, the weekly assignments will not lower the final grade. If the average
of the weekly assignments or the final exam is 4.9 or lower, then the final mark cannot
exceed a 5. If you do score a 5,0 or higher for the weekly assignment and the grade for the
weekly assignment is lower than the final exam, then the weekly assignments will not
count for your final grade.

There is one resit opportunity.

Literature
- Collection of articles you can download from Brightspace or find via the library
website.

2›5
 Program

Week 1: Introduction (September 7)

Material
Readings:
• Gordon, J. & Nyholm, S. (2023). Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. In: Sellers, M.,
Kirste, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy.
• Burrell, J. (2016). How the machine ‘thinks’: Understanding opacity in machine
learning algorithms. Big Data & Society.

Week 2: Value alignment and Control (September 14)

Readings:
• Gabriel, I. (2020). Artificial intelligence, values, and alignment. Minds and Machines,
30(3), 411–437.
• Santoni de Sio, F., & Van den Hoven, J. (2018). Meaningful human control over
autonomous systems: A philosophical account. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 15.

Optional:
• E. Yudkowsky. ‘The AI Alignment Problem: Why It’s Hard, and Where to Start’,
recorded lecture.
• N. Soares, ‘The Value Learning Problem’. Ethics for Artificial Intelligence Workshop
at 25th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence
• S. J. Russell. ‘3 principles for creating safer AI’, TED talk, April 2017

Week 3: Responsibility & achievement gaps (September 21)

Readings:
• Sparrow, R. (2007). Killer robots, Journal of Applied Philosophy, 24, 62–77.
• Danaher, J., & Nyholm, S. (2021). Automation, work and the achievement gap. AI
and Ethics, 1(3), 227–237.

Optional:
• Muller, V. C. and Simpson, T. W. ‘Autonomous Killer Robots Are Probably Good
News’ in Ezio Di Nucci & Filippo Santoni de Sio (eds.): Drones and Responsibility:
Legal, Philosophical and Socio-Technical Perspectives on the Use of Remotely
Controlled Weapons. London: Ashgate.
• Simpson, T. W. and Muller, V. C. (2016) Just war and robot’s killings, Philosophical
Quarterly, 66 (263), 302–22.

3›5
 Week 4: Moral Agency (September 28)

Material
Readings:
• Purves, D., Jenkins, R., & Strawser, B. J. (2015). Autonomous machines, moral
judgment, and acting for the right reasons. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 18,
851–872.
• List, C. (2021). Group agency and artificial intelligence. Philosophy & Technology,
34(4), 1213–1242.

Optional:
• Allen, Colin & Varner, Gary (2000). Prolegomena to any future artificial moral
agent. Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Artificial Intelligence 12 (3):251--
261.

Week 5: Moral Patiency (October 5)

Readings:
• Bryson, J. (2018). Patiency Is Not a Virtue: The Design of Intelligent Systems and
Systems of Ethics. Ethics and Information Technology 20 (1): 15–26.
• Danaher, J. (2021). Welcoming Robots into the Moral Circle: A Defence of Ethical
Behaviourism. Science and Engineering Ethics 26 (4): 2023–2049.

Optional:
• Darling, K. (2015) ‘Children Beating Up Robot Inspires New Escape Maneuver
System’, IEEE Spectrum, 6 August 2015.
• Basl, John (2014). Machines as Moral Patients We Shouldn’t Care About : The
Interests and Welfare of Current Machines. Philosophy and Technology 27 (1):79-
96.
• Schwitzgebel, Eric & Garza, Mara (2015). A Defense of the Rights of Artificial
Intelligences. Midwest Studies in Philosophy 39 (1):98-119.

Week 6: AI, Friends, Love and Deception (October 12)

Readings:
• Danaher, J. (2020). Robot Betrayal: A guide to the ethics of robotic deception.
Ethics and Information Technology, 22(2), 117–128.
• Nyholm, S., & Frank, L. E. (2017). From Sex Robots to Love Robots: Is Mutual Love
with a Robot Possible? In Robot sex: Social and ethical implications.

4›5
 Week 7: Ethics of Generative AI (October 19)

Readings: t.b.a.

Week 8 (October 23 – October 27)

No lectures. Exam preparation.

Week 9: Final exam (November 2th)

No lectures in this week. Exam on Thursday in Aletta Jacobshal 4.

Date of resit will be announced later via Brightspace and / or faculty website.

5›5