Utilitarianism concerns itself with the consequences of an action rather than the initial motive for under an action. According to Mill’s (1957) argument, an act is deemed suitable if only it results in the maximum expanse of pleasure for the maximum number of individuals. Mill believes that individuals pursue contentment as an end, and tries to use this notion to every aspect of life. Mill (1957) argues that people have the right to the necessities such as food, favorable working conditions, housing, and healthcare and supports any program that would lead the society to achieving such improvements. Technology has proved to be a key element in improving human life, but also presents challenges that might hinder human sustainability.
In the article, Will Robots Take Our Children’s Jobs? Published by the New York Times, Williams (2017) expresses his concerns about the future of human sustainability in respect to the development of artificial intelligence. The author gives examples of how various technological inventions threaten human labor and dependence in future. William estimates that in the next twenty years most human careers would be faced out and instead replaced by technology. The author also acknowledges various opinions from proponents who argue that technology has always improved human life and artificial intelligence is not different. Albert Wegner is among the proponents who argue that a technology-driven economy would allow the government to amass a lot of wealth that citizens will not have to earn through working. Instead, the government would be providing a Universal Basic Income (UBI) to every citizen. Since technology would have taken over most actives conducted by humans, people would have plenty of time for leisure activities. Scholars like Wegner paint a picture of ‘paradise,’ in case humans embrace artificial intelligence, while others like William are worried and uncertain about the future of humanity at the hands of artificial intelligence. Such a dilemma could also be addressed philosophically using the utilitarian theory. This article will use the utilitarian approach to explore the dilemma and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence.
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The Utilitarian theory
The attempt to bring happiness represents the method of implementing the tenets of utilitarianism. Laudon (1995) views utilitarianism as the general motive of benevolence and people see this reason behind the application of artificial intelligence for monetary improvement and supporting transformation to improve the existing conditions in the society. For instance, when William (2017) gives an example of robotic surgeon called Star outperforming a human subject to repair the intestine of a pig, he should concentrate on the outcome of the robot. According to utilitarianism if the robot was capable of outperforming a human subject, that means that the robot can give better health service than the surgeon; this positive outcome can lead to the greatest good to the greatest number of people. Even if this means that the human surgeon would lose their job, but the society would benefit, then the technology ought to be embraced.
Technology and Utilitarianism
Froehlich (1990) introduces another aspect of utilitarianism and the prospects of happiness. He stipulates that any action undertaken for the good of the society should aim at achieving long a term goal. A move that benefits the community in short-term does not fulfill the aim of utilitarianism. Using a practical example could help in understanding the dynamics, difficulties, and benefits of technology through the lens of utilitarianism. For instance, a case of an underdeveloped society that has decided to automate its agricultural library structure. Practically this system would lead to various improvements such as increased agricultural yields due to the availability of knowledge, systems of disease control and crop culture. In turn, farmers would realize improved income and the country would be secure from food scarcity. Not only would the society benefit from the improved outcomes, but also other benefits such as easy and reliable access to general information. From these benefits, there are also some deficits such the reliance on imported technology, importing human labor to maintain and repair the technology, unemployment due to technological replacement among others. These benefits and shortcomings must be assessed in any society to establish whether the benefits or the failures of technology are linked with both the instantaneous and the distant prospects. A long-term ecological adversity would degrade the high level of the present common happiness, in case technology does not meet its expectations ( Laudon, 1995 ). Moreover, the accessibility of knowledge and its application in increasing farming products should not only favor a portion of the population, for example, those who are highly educated at the expense of others. According to utilitarianism, an act is only ethical if it endorses long-term pleasure for most individuals.
Analysis
Just as William is concerned with the future of humanity at the hands of artificial intelligence, utilitarianism also concerns itself with long-term welfare and happiness of the society. Arguments from other proponents presented by William reveal a positive future of artificial intelligence, while others are worried. Therefore, the utilitarian computation of human future at the hands of artificial intelligence is complicated by several additives and progressive factors (Taylor, 1985). When policymakers opt for full adoption of artificial intelligence, they must contemplate on the present and imminent benefits of all the areas and individuals affected. From the computation, policymakers must deduct the advantages of the technology and the subsequent dependence that technology promotes. The effects of misapplied technologies may change the lives of humans, and in case of failure, the consequences could be catastrophic, even as much as they are efficient than humans in some areas ( Riemenschneider, Manly, & Leonard, 2016 ).
If the moral quality of choice for using artificial intelligence depends on its consequences such the teleological elements that are suggested by utilitarianism, then there should be an extended period of trials to establish the best response. Additionally, there is a conflicting connection between personal happiness and contentment of the majority in utilitarianism. Mill (1957) explained that an individual's pleasure is only noble to that person, then common happiness is defined as what is reasonable to everyone. Considered at a façade value, this is the canard of detachment, purporting that a material goods linked with the whole ought to be related with the fragments. For example, take the agricultural library case discussed above; it is evident that some individuals might be very unhappy about the technology as much as it increased the general welfare of the society. Employees who lost their jobs because of the technology, farmers who were excluded from using the technology because of their illiteracy levels, and economic endowment among other barriers would definitely realize the deteriorating value of their present production efforts, which makes them incapable to earn their living and sustain a household as they earlier did. On the progressive side, the country will realize economic development among other common goods that will facilitate improvement of living standards throughout the society. Though such growth could disproportionately improve the lives of some constituents at the expense of others and in such a situation, the technology would have failed to meet the principles of utilitarianism.
Conclusion
The dilemma posed by artificial intelligence remains unsolved, various ideologies have tried to solve the mystery and possibly discern whether this technology would improve human lives or not, but so far no formidable conclusion has been reached. Utilitarianism as philosophical thought has also failed to draw a proper conclusion on the subject. It is up to policymakers to establish whether they would adopt artificial intelligence and the remedy to the challenges presented by this technology.
References
Froehlich, T. J. (1990). Ethics, ideologies, and practices of information technology and systems . In D. Henderson (Ed.), Information in the year 2000: From research to applications (Proceedings of the 53d annual meeting of the American Society for Information Science, 4-8 November 1990, Toronto, Canada). Medford, N J: Learned Information, Inc.
Laudon, K. C. (1995). Ethical concepts and information technology. Communications of the ACM , 38 (12), 33-39.
Mill, J. S. (1957). Utilitarianism (Priest, Ed.). New York: The Liberal Arts Press, Inc.
Riemenschneider, C. K., Manly, T. S., & Leonard, L. N. (2016). Using Giving Voice to Values to Improve Student Academic Integrity in Information Technology Contexts. Journal of Information Systems Education , 27 (3), 183.
Taylor, C. (1985). Philosophy and the human sciences: Philosophical papers 2. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Williams, A. (2017). Will Robots Take Our Children’s Jobs? New York Times. [Online] Available at; https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/style/robots-jobs-children.html . Retrieved on [June 21, 2018]
