A Virtue Ethics Approach for Using AI-Enabled Technologies

With the advent of AI-enhanced technology (AIT), we face new technological dilemmas. However, within the IS literature, there is no cumulative tradition to address these novel dilemmas; instead, there is a disjointed collection of individual thoughts. In response, we propose that virtue ethics could provide a solid foundation for the use of AIT. Utilizing Vallor’s Technomoral approach, we develop a normative framework for applying virtue ethics to guide the use of AIT by individuals, organizations, and governments. We conclude with a series of recommendations. We should avoid using AI to “short-circuit” our moral development by outsourcing tasks to the technology. AIT should serve people, not lead them. The government should not establish regulations that enable a single vision of the Telos and disable others. The use of virtue ethics, and in particular Vallor’s Technomoral approach, presents a novel approach to the ethics approaches used to date in the IS literature.