Lived Experience, Synthetic Logic: The Illusion of Moral AI

Author and journalist Michael Pollan characterizes our era as the “Second Copernican Shock,” a civilizational turning point where the boundary between human empathy and algorithmic calculation is increasingly blurred. From AI companions like ElliQ providing “virtual hugs” to the elderly, to “moral machines” tasked with navigating life-and-death dilemmas, we are entering a global experiment in the outsourcing of ethics and accountability. As we delegate our conscience to systems that exist outside the weight of consequence—systems not haunted by regret nor soothed by redemption—are we experiencing a dangerous “ethical de-skilling”? And if so, what are the consequences?

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Robert Sparrow, Professor of Philosophy, and Associate Investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society at Monash University,  and founding member of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control.

Hosted by: Alexa Raad and Leslie Daigle.

Further reading:

• Michael Pollan warns humanity is on the brink of a radical shift
• She’s 85, and Her Roommate Is a Robot
• Why machines cannot be moral
• Robots and Respect: Assessing the Case Against Autonomous Weapons Systems
• Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation
• Minotaurs, Not Centaurs: The Myth of Human-AI Teaming

The views and opinions expressed in this program are our own and may not reflect the views or positions of our employers.