Pastoral Virtues for Artificial Intelligence: Care and the Algorithms that Guide Our Lives

Pastoral Virtues for Artificial Intelligence (AI) explores how human destiny is intertwined with AI, recognizing its potential to bring both hope and fear. AI, built around convenience, productivity, speed, efficiency, and cost reduction, can serve humanity poorly in moments that demand care and wisdom. This book proposes incorporating pastoral virtues such as hope, patience, play, wisdom, and compassion as foundational to personal flourishing, communal thriving, and building a robust AI.

Format: Hardback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 15 October 2022
Publisher: Lexington Books

Pastoral Virtues for Artificial Intelligence (AI) recognizes the profound interconnectedness between human destiny and the development of artificial intelligence (AI). AI has already demonstrated remarkable capabilities, surpassing human performance in numerous tasks. Our evolving relationship with AI, characterized by its increasing autonomy, mirrors our relationship with what is considered sacred or divine. Like a divine entity, AI evokes both hope and fear in people, while simultaneously giving life to some and taking livelihoods, particularly in the form of jobs, from others. However, the AI built around values of convenience, productivity, speed, efficiency, and cost reduction often fails to serve humanity effectively, particularly in moments that require care and wisdom.

This book delves into the pastoral virtues of hope, patience, play, wisdom, and compassion as essential foundations for personal flourishing, communal thriving, and the creation of a robust AI. It identifies biases of determinism, speed, objectivity, ignorance, and apathy within AI algorithms, which can be minimized through incorporating these virtues as guiding values in AI development.

The pastoral virtues of hope, patience, play, wisdom, and compassion play a crucial role in shaping the ethical and responsible development of AI. Hope inspires us to envision a future where AI can enhance human well-being and contribute to the greater good. Patience enables us to navigate the complexities and uncertainties of AI development with grace and resilience. Play fosters creativity and innovation within AI systems, allowing them to explore new ideas and approaches. Wisdom guides us in understanding the ethical implications of AI decisions and developing ethical frameworks that align with human values. Compassion enables us to create AI systems that are sensitive to human needs, values, and experiences.

By embracing these pastoral virtues, we can build AI that is not only efficient and effective but also humane and ethical. AI has the potential to transform our lives in countless ways, from improving healthcare and transportation to addressing social and environmental challenges. However, it is essential to ensure that AI development is guided by values that prioritize the well-being and dignity of all individuals and societies.

In conclusion, the pastoral virtues of hope, patience, play, wisdom, and compassion hold the key to personal flourishing, communal thriving, and the creation of a robust AI. By incorporating these virtues as guiding values in AI development, we can build a future where AI serves as a force for good, enhancing human well-being and contributing to the greater good of humanity.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781793640451