Preemptive Bioethics and Syncretist Approach for Ethical Challenges in AI and Robotics: Good v Evil I

Main Views Of Bioethics

Bioethics of Displacement needs a moral philosophy because it deals with complex ethical issues related to displacement and its implications for human life. Displacement, whether it be physical, psychological, or existential, often involves difficult choices, conflicts, and challenges that have profound moral implications for individuals and communities. A moral philosophy provides a framework for examining and evaluating these issues from an ethical perspective, guiding decision-making and actions in the face of complex and morally challenging situations.

Darryl Macer highlights three main views of bioethics (Macer, 2018, p. 7):

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  Prescriptive Bioethics: On telling good from evil and ordering ethical principles as well as setting duties and responsibilities

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  Descriptive Bioethics: On the moral perceptions and interactions when relating with other living beings and ourselves

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  Interactive Bioethics: On the discussion and debate between social groups and within whole societies about the descriptive and prescriptive bioethics issues.

While streamlined with bringing bioethics beyond space-time boundaries, the clarification and development of Bioethics exposed by Macer can go further even. The Bioethics of Displacement also introduces the Preemptive bioethics. Preemptive bioethics refers to the ethical consideration of possible outcomes in paying more attention to Descriptive, Preemptive or Interactive bioethics given the current trends and the time available. For instance, in the development and use of autonomous robots or AI systems, preemptive bioethics would involve considering the ethical implications and possible outcomes before their widespread deployment. Prescriptive bioethics would provide guidelines and principles for determining what is considered good or evil in the design, programming, and use of these technologies, and setting ethical responsibilities for developers, users, and other stakeholders. Descriptive bioethics would focus on understanding the moral perceptions and interactions that arise in the human-robot relationship, including issues such as privacy, autonomy, and accountability. Interactive bioethics would involve discussions and debates between various social groups and societies about the ethical concerns associated with AI and robotics, involving input from ethicists, technologists, policymakers, and the general public. In turn, Preemptive bioethics would call for anticipating and addressing ethical challenges related to AI and robotics proactively, considering their potential impact on society, culture, economy, and human well-being. This could include addressing concerns about bias, discrimination, job displacement, safety, and transparency, among others. From a preemptive bioethics perspective, it would be essential to ensure that the democratisation and self-representativeness of bioethics and bioethicists are present in major works on bioethics related to AI and robotics, and that forums are highlighted to improve the nature of interaction among stakeholders to foster responsible and ethical development and use of these technologies.

Ethical Decision-Making Approaches

According to Joseph Fletcher, the ethical decision-making has also three basic approaches (Fletcher, 1997, pp. 17–31):

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  Legalist: Some moral rules are absolute and inviolable without any further consideration.

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  Antinomian: There is no rule for the morality to lie upon.

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  Situationist: There is no absolute moral rules but many helpful moral principles.