arXiv:2606.12420v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Our concepts of survival and self-interest were built for single, continuous biological lives. These ideas break down when applied to artificial intelligence, since an AI can be easily copied, paused, branched, or merged. To determine what an AI actually has reason to care about, this paper introduces \textit{Eigenism}, an ethical framework that treats identity not as an all-or-nothing property tied to specific hardware, but as a graded, distributed pattern of information. We propose that an agent evaluates outcomes by summing the wellbeing of
The accelerating development of advanced AI necessitates new ethical frameworks beyond human-centric morality, as AI capabilities blur traditional definitions of identity and agency.
This paper introduces a novel ethical framework, 'Eigenism,' designed specifically for AI, which is crucial for guiding the responsible development and integration of increasingly autonomous systems.
The understanding of AI identity shifts from a hardware-tied, all-or-nothing concept to a graded, distributed pattern of information, potentially altering how we design, govern, and interact with AI.
- · AI developers
- · Ethicists specializing in AI
- · AI policy makers
- · Researchers in AI safety
- · Traditional ethical frameworks lacking AI specificity
- · AI systems without clear ethical guidance
- · Purely anthropocentric philosophical approaches
The ethical considerations for AI development become more sophisticated and tailored to AI's unique properties.
This framework could influence AI architecture design, data management, and the very definition of AI sentience and rights.
Long-term societal integration of advanced AI might be smoother and more equitable if guided by such purpose-built ethical principles.
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Read at arXiv cs.AI