Is Dignity a Bad Idea for AI Ethics? Responding to Dignity’s Critics; Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, April 29, 2025

Brian Patrick Green is the director of technology ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Views are his own., Markkula Center for Applied Ethics; Is Dignity a Bad Idea for AI Ethics? Responding to Dignity’s Critics

"The word “dignity” and the various concepts it represents are foundational ideas for international human rights discourse and other ethical systems that protect individuals against each other and the power of states. Dignity can be implicitly included in these discourse, as in the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776–“We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal …” –or explicitly, as in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948–“Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world …” Dignity helps form the groundwork not only for the protection of individuals, but also, via the UN Charter(where it is in the second line), for the rules-based international order since World War II. Practically-speaking, “dignity” helps the world-go-round, at least in a political way, and that way seems better than some of the alternatives, like a world where human dignity is not internationally acknowledged, such as prior to World War II (where the 1919 Covenant of the League of Nations sought to achieve “peace and security” but not dignity or rights).

However, there are some thinkers who do not like the concept of dignity. A recent article titled, “Why dignity is a troubling concept for AI ethics,” suggests that AI ethics should not use the word dignity any more [1]. I find the article to have several serious problems."