Related papers: Agency in Artificial Intelligence Systems
The proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems exhibiting complex and seemingly agentive behaviours necessitates a critical philosophical examination of their agency, autonomy, and moral status. In this paper we undertake a…
The leading AI companies are increasingly focused on building generalist AI agents -- systems that can autonomously plan, act, and pursue goals across almost all tasks that humans can perform. Despite how useful these systems might be,…
The endowment of AI with reasoning capabilities and some degree of agency is widely viewed as a path toward more capable and generalizable systems. Our position is that the current development of agentic AI requires a more holistic,…
We may soon develop highly human-like AIs that appear-or perhaps even are-sentient, capable of subjective experiences such as happiness and suffering. Regardless of whether AI can achieve true sentience, it is crucial to anticipate and…
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) systems suggests that artificial general intelligence (AGI) systems may soon arrive. Many researchers are concerned that AIs and AGIs will harm humans via intentional misuse (AI-misuse)…
Agentic AI seeks to endow systems with sustained autonomy, reasoning, and interaction capabilities. To realize this vision, its assumptions about agency must be complemented by explicit models of cognition, cooperation, and governance. This…
The recent rapid advancements in artificial intelligence research and deployment have sparked more discussion about the potential ramifications of socially- and emotionally-intelligent AI. The question is not if research can produce such…
Humans strive to design safe AI systems that align with our goals and remain under our control. However, as AI capabilities advance, we face a new challenge: the emergence of deeper, more persistent relationships between humans and AI…
What is agency, and why does it matter? In this work, we draw from the political science and philosophy literature and give two competing visions of what it means to be an (ethical) agent. The first view, which we term mechanistic, is…
This paper critically assesses the anti-functionalist stance on consciousness adopted by certain advocates of integrated information theory (IIT), a corollary of which is that human-level artificial intelligence implemented on conventional…
Insofar as consciousness has a functional role in facilitating learning and behavioral control, the builders of autonomous AI systems are likely to attempt to incorporate it into their designs. The extensive literature on the ethics of AI…
A core part of human intelligence is the ability to work flexibly with others to achieve goals. The incorporation of artificial agents into human spaces is making increasing demands on artificial intelligence (AI) to demonstrate and…
From its inception, AI has had a rather ambivalent relationship to humans---swinging between their augmentation and replacement. Now, as AI technologies enter our everyday lives at an ever increasing pace, there is a greater need for AI…
This book-length article combines several peer reviewed papers and new material to analyze the issues of ethical artificial intelligence (AI). The behavior of future AI systems can be described by mathematical equations, which are adapted…
The development of agents with emotional intelligence is becoming increasingly vital due to their significant role in human-computer interaction and the growing integration of computer systems across various sectors of society. Affective…
Whether current or near-term AI systems could be conscious is a topic of scientific interest and increasing public concern. This report argues for, and exemplifies, a rigorous and empirically grounded approach to AI consciousness: assessing…
I am a person and so are you. Philosophically we sometimes grant personhood to non-human animals, and entities such as sovereign states or corporations can legally be considered persons. But when, if ever, should we ascribe personhood to AI…
This paper explores the growing presence of emotionally responsive artificial intelligence through a critical and interdisciplinary lens. Bringing together the voices of early-career researchers from multiple fields, it explores how AI…
In this report, we argue that there is a realistic possibility that some AI systems will be conscious and/or robustly agentic in the near future. That means that the prospect of AI welfare and moral patienthood, i.e. of AI systems with…
AI systems are becoming increasingly complex, ubiquitous and autonomous, leading to increasing concerns about their impacts on individuals and society. In response, researchers have begun investigating how to ensure that the methods…