The Machine Question ─ Critical Perspectives on AI, Robots, and Ethics

One of the enduring concerns of moral philosophy is deciding who or what is deservingof ethical consideration. Much recent attention has been devoted to the "animalquestion"--consideration of the moral status of nonhuman animals. In this book, David Gunkeltakes up the "machine question": whether and to what extent intelligent and autonomousmachines of our own making can be considered to have legitimate moral responsibilities and anylegitimate claim to moral consideration. The machine question poses a fundamental challenge to moralthinking, questioning the traditional philosophical conceptualization of technology as a tool orinstrument to be used by human agents. Gunkel begins by addressing the question of machine moralagency: whether a machine might be considered a legitimate moral agent that could be heldresponsible for decisions and actions. He then approaches the machine question from the other side,considering whether a machine might be a moral patient due legitimate moral consideration. Finally,Gunkel considers some recent innovations in moral philosophy and critical theory that complicate themachine question, deconstructing the binary agent--patient opposition itself. Technological advancesmay prompt us to wonder if the science fiction of computers and robots whose actions affect theirhuman companions (think of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey) could become sciencefact. Gunkel's argument promises to influence future considerations of ethics, ourselves, and theother entities who inhabit this world.