Virtues and Vices: The Ethical Implications of AI on Human Flourishing

It is reasonable to believe that the advent of advanced technological systems, including those of Artificial Intelligence (AI), would only be ethically defensible to the extent that they promote the genuine flourishing of human beings in a just fashion (or merely that they do not hinder such advancements). Given this, a foundational analysis of the relationship between human flourishing and technological advancement is preliminary to an examination of the ethical standing of AI and other technology. In this paper, I begin by highlighting three principal features of human nature, which, proportional to the extent they are fostered, nurture human flourishing. I then present a number of vices that, proportional to the extent they are encouraged, inhibit the preceding understanding of human flourishing. In each section, I go on to analyze how various forms of technological advancement have fostered or encouraged the realization of these virtues and vices. By doing so, I aim to offer insight about how we may navigate at least some features of responsible technological development.