Title: Stoic Ethics for Artificial Agents,
Abstract: We present a position paper advocating the notion that Stoic philosophy and
ethics can inform the development of ethical A.I. systems. This is in sharp
contrast to most work on building ethical A.I., which has focused on
Utilitarian or Deontological ethical theories. We relate ethical A.I. to
several core Stoic notions, including the dichotomy of control, the four
cardinal virtues, the ideal Sage, Stoic practices, and Stoic perspectives on
emotion or affect. More generally, we put forward an ethical view of A.I. that
focuses more on internal states of the artificial agent rather than on external
actions of the agent. We provide examples relating to near-term A.I. systems as
well as hypothetical superintelligent agents.