Should religious thinkers help shape AI?
AI companies are trying to decide how chatbots should respond to morally charged questions about grief, family, medicine, sexuality and belief. Anthropic has consulted theologians and ethicists as it refines Claude’s behavior. Is religious tradition a useful source of moral wisdom for AI, or should chatbot values be shaped through secular, technical processes instead?
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Theologian Max Stackhouse argued that ethics must be evaluated through three distinct modes or dimensions: the deontological [right/wrong], the teleological [good/evil/], and the ethological [appropriateness or "the fitting'] In his foundational 1976 paper "Modes of Justification in Ethical Arguments", Stackhouse argued that a comprehensive ethical framework cannot rely on just one of these concepts. Instead, valid moral reasoning requires balancing all three dimensions. I have compared this in my mind to playing Xs and Os {or tic-tac-toe] 3 dimensionally. All must be taken into consideration, i.e. what is good and right may not be fitting to the situation. [Thanks to AI for helping me track down the quote!]
