DSTL Ai Ethics Cards

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Ethics Foundations

The Roots provide a foundation for understanding where the MOD AI Principles have come from. This section provides an introduction to how wider ethical thinking, and professional norms, have influenced the AI Ethics Principles we have today. This section explores key ethical theories and considers their application in military settings.

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What’s the difference between morality, ethics, and law? Where do our ideas about right and wrong come from?

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How can we identify ethical issues? Can our answers ever be considered objective?

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What is consequentialism - can the ends justify the means in certain situations?

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What is deontology - are some actions just always right or wrong?

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What is Virtue Ethics and why is it important?

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How do you make a good ethical decision?

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What makes the military a profession and what makes the State worth defending?

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What are the core military values, and how do they influence a soldier, sailor, or aviator's actions?

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Can going to war ever be ethically justified?

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Does war have rules?

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Can it ever be acceptable to harm the innocent?

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Are there some actions in war that are absolutely forbidden regardless of the situation, or could there ever be a justification to override ethical rules?

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Why do good people do bad things? What can we do about it?

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What are the key considerations in the "ethics of risk"?