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Section
Appendix
9.1

App. A: Normative Ethics

Ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with questions of right and wrong, good and bad, and how we ought to live our lives. This appendix provides a brief overview of some of the leading theories in normative ethics, which aim to provide answers to these questions. A understanding of these theories is valuable when thinking about how to ensure that AI systems are deployed in an ethical manner and that increasingly autonomous AI systems behave in ways which are sensitive to important moral considerations.

Summary

Moral philosophy provides us with a framework for making critical decisions around how we might want AI systems to behave. This appendix outlines key concepts and theories in philosophical ethics and examines their relevance to AI safety.

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Review Questions