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EconTalk · January 1, 2024 · 65m
Can Artificial Intelligence Be Moral?
Paul Bloom on whether AI can have moral understanding. Bloom argues that morality requires suffering — and without the capacity to suffer, AI can mimic moral reasoning but can't be moral. The question reveals what we actually mean by 'moral.'
This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.
Canon
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Bloom: moral understanding requires having a self that can suffer. AI has no self, no body, no vulnerability. Its moral reasoning is mimicry without comprehension — a false self performing moral judgments without the inner life that makes them meaningful.
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Roberts: if AI handles more moral reasoning, what's left for humans? The Stoic answer: the choice to be moral — the internal commitment — remains within human control even if the analysis is outsourced.
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