A case for investigating the ethics of artificial life

Abstract

A major stream of Artificial Life (ALife) research aims to build synthetic life forms. Naturally occurring non-sentient life forms have been included in the moral community by some environmental ethicists, but there has been little discussion about the moral status and treatment of synthetic intellects or digital biota. Ethical issues in ALife include: the weighing of costs and benefits, the question of moral status, implications for ALife researchers, and the development of ethical guidelines. Ethical research in ALife should combine computer science and philosophy. The results could reflect back insights into the nature of real life and the applicability of ethical considerations in real-life situations. – AI-generated abstract.