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Cited by 151Ethics and Social Impacts of AIEthics in Business and EducationPhilosophical Ethics and Theory

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 124 of the 124 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Artificial Moral Agents: A Survey of the Current Status

Cervantes, José-Antonio, López, Sonia, Rodríguez, Luis-Felipe, Cervantes, Salvador, Cervantes, Francisco, Ramos, Félix·2020·Science and Engineering Ethics
DOI 10.1007/s11948-019-00151-x
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Abstract

One of the objectives in the field of artificial intelligence for some decades has been the development of artificial agents capable of coexisting in harmony with people and other systems. The computing research community has made efforts to design artificial agents capable of doing tasks the way people do, tasks requiring cognitive mechanisms such as planning, decision-making, and learning. The application domains of such software agents are evident nowadays. Humans are experiencing the inclusion of artificial agents in their environment as unmanned vehicles, intelligent houses, and humanoid robots capable of caring for people. In this context, research in the field of machine ethics has become more than a hot topic. Machine ethics focuses on developing ethical mechanisms for artificial agents to be capable of engaging in moral behavior. However, there are still crucial challenges in the development of truly Artificial Moral Agents. This paper aims to show the current status of Artificial Moral Agents by analyzing models proposed over the past two decades. As a result of this review, a taxonomy to classify Artificial Moral Agents according to the strategies and criteria used to deal with ethical problems is proposed. The presented review aims to illustrate (1) the complexity of designing and developing ethical mechanisms for this type of agent, and (2) that there is a long way to go (from a technological perspective) before this type of artificial agent can replace human judgment in difficult, surprising or ambiguous moral situations.

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Arkoudas, K., Bringsjord, S., & Bello, P. (2005). Toward ethical robots via mechanized deontic logic. In AAAI Fall symposium on machine ethics (pp. 17–23).
  2. Govindarajulu, N. S., Bringjsord, S., & Ghosh, R. (2018). One formalization of virtue ethics via learning. arXiv preprint arXiv:180507797.

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Metadata

Authors
Cervantes, J.-A., López, S., Rodríguez, L.-F., Cervantes, S., Cervantes, F., & Ramos, F.
Affiliations
  • Universidad de Guadalajara (MX)
  • Sonora Institute of Technology (MX)
  • Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (MX)
  • Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (MX)
Corresponding author
Cervantes, José-Antonio
ORCID
Venue
Science and Engineering Ethics
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2019-11-12
Volume
26
Issue
2
Pages
501-532
ISSN
  • 1353-3452 (ISSN-L)
  • 1471-5546
DOI
10.1007/s11948-019-00151-x
OpenAlex
W2989113827
Cited by
151
References
124
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 7
FWCI
3.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • Science and Engineering Ethics (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Ethics in Business and Education
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Philosophical Ethics and Theory
Keywords
artificial moral agents, machine ethics, moral behavior, autonomous agents, human-robot interaction, decision-making, planning, learning, humanoid robots, unmanned vehicles, intelligent house
MeSH terms
Artificial Intelligence, Humans, Judgment, Morals, Surveys and Questionnaires, Software

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