What Does It Mean?
Using AI morally means thinking carefully about the impact our actions have on other people.
AI can help us make decisions, create content, automate tasks, solve problems, and increase efficiency. It gives us powerful new capabilities and opportunities.
The Moral Lens reminds us that with greater capability comes greater responsibility. Not everything that can be done should be done.
Reflection
Have I considered fairness, dignity, honesty, safety, responsibility, and wellbeing?
Have I considered who could benefit, who could be harmed, and who might be left out?
Am I willing to take responsibility for this choice and its consequences?
Simple Practices
Identify the values at stake before acting. Let fairness, dignity, honesty, safety, responsibility, and wellbeing guide your choices.
Be open about when and how AI has been used. Transparency builds trust and allows others to make informed judgements.
Safeguard privacy, fairness, safety, dignity, and wellbeing. These values should not be sacrificed for convenience.
Pause when a decision feels uncertain or ethically complex. Good judgement often requires time, care, and perspective.
Indicators
| Question | Yes | Sometimes | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| I considered how others might be affected | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| I used AI honestly and transparently | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| I thought about fairness and potential harm | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| I accepted responsibility for the outcome | ○ | ○ | ○ |
Warning Signs
Examples
A student is using AI to assist with a major assignment.
The student uses AI to generate ideas, improve structure, and support learning throughout the assignment process.
The student uses AI while also carefully considering questions of ownership, attribution, honesty, and understanding, ensuring that the final submission accurately reflects their own work and learning.
An organisation is considering using AI to help evaluate job applications.
The organisation uses AI to assist with sorting and reviewing applications more efficiently.
The organisation uses AI while also ensuring that decisions remain fair, transparent, accountable, and subject to appropriate human oversight.
A Bhutanese Perspective
Every society is shaped by the values it chooses to uphold. Technology can influence how we live, work, communicate, and make decisions. As these technologies become more powerful, the importance of moral judgement grows rather than diminishes.
AI may provide recommendations, predictions, or analyses, but it cannot replace human responsibility.
The Moral Lens reminds us that wisdom is not simply knowing what can be done. Wisdom also includes knowing what should be done.
As AI becomes more capable, our responsibility to use it wisely becomes even greater.
Technology can amplify our choices. It cannot make those choices for us.
The Moral Lens Asks
What is my use of AI doing to my values, my responsibilities, and the wellbeing of others?