“The Morally Noble Person is not a Tool”. An Introduction to Chinese Perspectives on AI Ethics

Abstract

The debate on AI ethics in China is as intense as in the Western countries. Chinese philosophical and academic production, as well as official documents, propose values inspired by both Chinese and Western philosophical reflections. The paper aims to examine how the three main Chinese philosophical traditions, i.e. Chinese Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, consider the ethical issues involved in the use and implementation of new frontier technologies. Chinese ethical approach proposes a “people-centered AI for good” and emphasizes a non-anthropocentric intercultural perspective. These views present many original issues that could contribute to the construction of a globally shared value system for AI ethics.