Understanding Artificial Agency

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4351981
AutoresLeonard Dung (0000-0003-4154-5560, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, autor de correspondencia)
Año2025
Volumen75
Número2
Páginas450-472
Fecha de publicación2025-03-24
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Philosophical Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0031-8094 • E-ISSN: 1467-9213
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/pq/pqae010
OpenAlexW4391592270
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas22
Referencias citadas62

Which artificial intelligence (AI) systems are agents? To answer this question, I propose a multidimensional account of agency. According to this account, a system's agency profile is jointly determined by its level of goal-directedness and autonomy as well as is abilities for directly impacting the surrounding world, long-term planning and acting for reasons. Rooted in extant theories of agency, this account enables fine-grained, nuanced comparative characterizations of artificial agency. I show that this account has multiple important virtues and is more informative than alternatives. More speculatively, it may help to illuminate two important emerging questions in AI ethics: 1. Can agency contribute to the moral status of non-human beings, and how? 2. When and why might AI systems exhibit power-seeking behaviour and does this pose an existential risk to humanity

Agency (philosophy) · Epistemology · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Embodied and Extended Cognition · Philosophy · Philosophy and Theoretical Science