AI-Augmented Consequentialist Ethics (AI-ACE): a new frontier for the concept of responsibility

Marcus Gansauskas Bruzzo

doi:10.5007/1677-2954.2026.e111930

Autores/as

Marcus Gansauskas Bruzzo University of Tartu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3689-5008

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5007/1677-2954.2026.e111930

Palabras clave:

ethics, consequentialism, AI, artificial intelligence, deskilling

Resumen

This paper explores how consequentialism in ethics, which bases the ‘morality’ of an action on the predictability of its results, is being redefined by Artificial Intelligence. Traditionally, human responsibility is limited by the cognitive capacity to foresee consequences (non-culpable ignorance). The central thesis is that AI, by processing vast "Data Lakes," generates a "hyper-vision" that makes previously unattainable patterns visible, dramatically expanding the domain of what is "reasonably predictable." This creates AI-Augmented Consequentialism, where the agent's moral duty comes to include consideration of the predictive potential of available technology. Consequently, ethical responsibility expands, eroding the claim of ignorance as a moral excuse (erosion of culpable ignorance), and the failure to use this capacity can be seen as negligence. However, the supposed hyper-vision faces issues of system opacity (black box) and ‘moral deskilling’, where human autonomy can be sacrificed in favor of algorithmic optimization. Although AI should enhance human ethical maturity, not replace it, human dependence on AI for prediction becomes inescapable.

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