Boyd – Why We Need Amistics for AI Flashcards
- What are Amistics?
A deliberate, community-based approach to choosing which technologies to adopt or reject, inspired by the Amish and popularized in Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves.
- What is the standard approach to technology adoption in AI?
It assumes universal human values and lets corporations define ethics after technologies are already widespread, rather than choosing technologies based on how we want to live.
- What is assimilation in the context of AI ethics?
The view that AI should serve all of humanity universally, which ignores the diverse values of different communities.
- What is reflective equilibrium?
A Rawlsian method of reaching moral agreement by iteratively adjusting principles and judgments to accommodate diverse viewpoints.
- What is reflective equilibrium?
A Rawlsian method of reaching moral agreement by iteratively adjusting principles and judgments to accommodate diverse viewpoints.
- Why can’t AI account for all human values?
Because values are culturally embedded and no single system can represent the full diversity of human experience and tradition.
- Why can’t AI manage dominance and oppression?
Because those in power shape the choices AI offers, reinforcing existing inequalities and silencing marginalized perspectives.
- Why can’t AI manage bias?
Bias is inherent in data and model design, and even well-meaning attempts to correct it can create new biases or suppress legitimate voices.
- What is subversion ethics?
A reactive form of ethics that focuses on flipping power dynamics (e.g., oppressed vs. oppressor), but lacks a stable moral foundation.
- What is the community-based approach to AI?
An approach where ethical decisions about AI are made at the community level based on shared values, habits, and culture — not imposed universally.
- Why do we need Amistics for AI?
To empower communities to choose technologies aligned with their vision of the good life, rather than being passive recipients of corporate or state decisions.
