Book contents
- Empathy and Artificial Intelligence
- Studies in Emotion and Social Interaction
- Empathy and Artificial Intelligence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- AI and Empathy at a Crossroads
- Part I Understanding Empathy
- Part II Perceiving AI Empathy
- Part III Beyond Text: Embodiment and Robots
- Part IV Moral Implications
- Chapter 20 Contemporary AI and the Value of Empathy
- Chapter 21 Can Empathy Guide Ethical AI?
- Chapter 22 Does AI Need Empathy in Medicine?
- Chapter 23 AI in Healthcare
- Chapter 24 AI, Empathy, and Moral Status
- Chapter 25 AI Should Develop Human Empathy, Not Replace It
- Chapter 26 Practical Capacities, Empathy, and Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence
- Chapter 27 Stories of Empathy
- Index
- Studies In Emotion and Social Interaction
- References
Chapter 21 - Can Empathy Guide Ethical AI?
Opportunities, Challenges, and the Path Forward
from Part IV - Moral Implications
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2026
Book contents
- Empathy and Artificial Intelligence
- Studies in Emotion and Social Interaction
- Empathy and Artificial Intelligence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- AI and Empathy at a Crossroads
- Part I Understanding Empathy
- Part II Perceiving AI Empathy
- Part III Beyond Text: Embodiment and Robots
- Part IV Moral Implications
- Chapter 20 Contemporary AI and the Value of Empathy
- Chapter 21 Can Empathy Guide Ethical AI?
- Chapter 22 Does AI Need Empathy in Medicine?
- Chapter 23 AI in Healthcare
- Chapter 24 AI, Empathy, and Moral Status
- Chapter 25 AI Should Develop Human Empathy, Not Replace It
- Chapter 26 Practical Capacities, Empathy, and Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence
- Chapter 27 Stories of Empathy
- Index
- Studies In Emotion and Social Interaction
- References
Summary
If artificial agents can behave empathically, could this contribute to the development of more ethical AI systems? This question becomes especially important and timely with the speed of development and increasing use-cases in AI, has been raising concerns about their ethical use. In this chapter, I tried to give a nuanced exploration of different components of computational empathy, and the opportunities and challenges they present on different stages of the moral decision-making process. Rather than offering a simple “yes” or “no” answer, it suggests that the integration of empathy into AI systems depends on which components are employed and when. The chapter reviews existing research on empathy’s connection to moral and ethical behavior in humans, followed by a critical examination of how these insights could be applied to artificial agents.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Empathy and Artificial IntelligenceChallenges, Advances and Ethical Considerations, pp. 205 - 214Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
References
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