People's Trust in AI Systems to Make Moral Decisions is still some Way Off

Psychologists warn that AI's perceived lack of human experience and genuine understanding may limit its acceptance to make higher-stakes moral decisions.

Artificial moral advisors (AMAs) are systems based on artificial intelligence (AI) that are starting to be designed to assist humans in making moral decisions based on established ethical theories, principles, or guidelines. While prototypes are being developed, at present AMAs are not yet being used to offer consistent, bias-free recommendations and rational moral advice. As machines powered by artificial intelligence increase in their technological capacities and move into the moral domain it is critical that we understand how people think about such artificial moral advisors.

Research led by the University of Kent's School of Psychology explored how people would perceive these advisors and if they would trust their judgement, in comparison with human advisors. It found that while artificial intelligence might have the potential to offer impartial and rational advice, people still do not fully trust it to make ethical decisions on moral dilemmas.

Published in the journal Cognition, the research shows that people have a significant aversion to AMAs (vs humans) giving moral advice even when the advice given is identical, while also showing that this is particularly the case when advisors - human and AI alike - gave advice based on utilitarian principles (actions that could positively impact the majority). Advisors who gave non-utilitarian advice (e.g. adhering to moral rules rather than maximising outcomes) were trusted more, especially in dilemmas involving direct harm. This suggests that people value advisors - human or AI - who align with principles that prioritise individuals over abstract outcomes.

Even when participants agreed with the AMA’s decision, they still anticipated disagreeing with AI in the future, indicating inherent scepticism.

Dr Jim Everett led the research at Kent, alongside Dr Simon Myers at the University of Warwick.

Dr Jim Everett who led the research at Kent said: "Trust in moral AI isn't just about accuracy or consistency - it's about aligning with human values and expectations. Our research highlights a critical challenge for the adoption of AMAs and how to design systems that people truly trust. As technology advances, we might see AMAs become more integrated into decision-making processes, from healthcare to legal systems, therefore there is a major need to understand how to bridge the gap between AI capabilities and human trust."

Myers S, Everett JAC.
People expect artificial moral advisors to be more utilitarian and distrust utilitarian moral advisors.
Cognition. 2025 Mar;256:106028. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.106028

Most Popular Now

Unlocking the 10 Year Health Plan

The government's plan for the NHS is a huge document. Jane Stephenson, chief executive of SPARK TSL, argues the key to unlocking its digital ambitions is to consider what it...

Alcidion Grows Top Talent in the UK, wit…

Alcidion has today announced the addition of three new appointments to their UK-based team, with one internal promotion and two external recruits. Dr Paul Deffley has been announced as the...

AI can Find Cancer Pathologists Miss

Men assessed as healthy after a pathologist analyses their tissue sample may still have an early form of prostate cancer. Using AI, researchers at Uppsala University have been able to...

AI, Full Automation could Expand Artific…

Automated insulin delivery (AID) systems such as the UVA Health-developed artificial pancreas could help more type 1 diabetes patients if the devices become fully automated, according to a new review...

How AI could Speed the Development of RN…

Using artificial intelligence (AI), MIT researchers have come up with a new way to design nanoparticles that can more efficiently deliver RNA vaccines and other types of RNA therapies. After training...

MIT Researchers Use Generative AI to Des…

With help from artificial intelligence, MIT researchers have designed novel antibiotics that can combat two hard-to-treat infections: drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae and multi-drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Using generative AI algorithms, the research...

AI Hybrid Strategy Improves Mammogram In…

A hybrid reading strategy for screening mammography, developed by Dutch researchers and deployed retrospectively to more than 40,000 exams, reduced radiologist workload by 38% without changing recall or cancer detection...

New Training Year Starts at Siemens Heal…

In September, 197 school graduates will start their vocational training or dual studies in Germany at Siemens Healthineers. 117 apprentices and 80 dual students will begin their careers at Siemens...

Penn Developed AI Tools and Datasets Hel…

Doctors treating kidney disease have long depended on trial-and-error to find the best therapies for individual patients. Now, new artificial intelligence (AI) tools developed by researchers in the Perelman School...

Are You Eligible for a Clinical Trial? C…

A new study in the academic journal Machine Learning: Health discovers that ChatGPT can accelerate patient screening for clinical trials, showing promise in reducing delays and improving trial success rates. Researchers...

New AI Tool Addresses Accuracy and Fairn…

A team of researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has developed a new method to identify and reduce biases in datasets used to train machine-learning algorithms...

Global Study Reveals How Patients View M…

How physicians feel about artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine has been studied many times. But what do patients think? A team led by researchers at the Technical University of Munich...