Can We Trust Machines to Make Decisions?

NextGen Trends | 2025-09-30

In today's digital age, artificial intelligence (AI) has become one of the core technologies across various industries. Many companies and government agencies have begun using AI to make important decisions. However, can we trust that the decisions made by machines are correct? This question has raised concerns about the ethics of AI.

AI technology is fundamentally transforming human life. As intelligent machines become increasingly integrated into our daily lives, the decisions they face will no longer be limited to the application level, but will extend to the ethical level. When a self-driving car faces an unavoidable traffic accident, should it protect the passengers inside, or try to minimize overall casualties? When a drone is pursuing a terrorist organization carrying out a terrorist act, should it consider avoiding harm to innocent civilians?

We call for computers to make decisions from an ethical perspective because machines are different from humans. Machines are not misled by cognitive biases when making decisions; they do not hesitate when faced with choices; and they do not feel hatred towards enemies. Theoretically, an AI capable of thinking from a moral perspective should understand moral values and norms under ideal conditions. Without human constraints, such machines should make better ethical decisions than humans. However, granting machines absolute freedom and the ability to make ethical decisions unsettles many. Some argue that if artificial intelligence truly develops to this point, robots with moral judgment will pose a fundamental threat to human dignity.

Can people trust artificial intelligence?

To increase trust and reduce uncertainty, the U.S. Department of Defense has proposed a strategy requiring direct human involvement or oversight of all decisions related to AI. "In-the-loop" means that AI systems can offer suggestions, but human intervention is required. "In the loop" means that AI systems can operate independently, but human regulators can intervene to interrupt or modify their behavior. Involving people is a positive first step, but I am skeptical of its long-term sustainability. As businesses and governments increasingly adopt AI, the future may require complex, multi-layered AI systems. Addressing the challenges of explainability and consistency is likely to occur before the critical moment when human involvement becomes impractical. This is crucial. In such a scenario, we may have to rely on AI.

AI is becoming an integral part of critical systems in many fields, including power grids, the internet, and military operations. Trust is paramount in these critical systems because any malicious behavior could have serious consequences. These systems are becoming increasingly complex, making it increasingly important to address issues affecting trust. Artificial intelligence (AI) is different: AI is a form of intelligence that, according to human understanding, is often mysterious and predictable because it shares human experience. While humans are the creators of AI, this predictability does not apply to AI.

Ensuring Machine Learning Systems are Fair and Transparent

This means we need to know how machine learning systems make decisions and be able to trace their algorithms and data sources. Furthermore, we need to ensure that machine learning systems are regulated to prevent unfair or discriminatory outcomes.

The Impact of AI Ethics on Privacy and Security

When using AI to collect, store, and analyze personal data, we must ensure that the data is adequately protected and not misused. Furthermore, we need to ensure that machine learning systems are not hacked or compromised.

AI Ethics is a Complex and Important Issue

While machine learning can make decisions better than humans in some situations, we must ensure they are fair, transparent, and regulated. Furthermore, we need to consider their impact on privacy and security. Only in this way can we ensure that the development of AI does not negatively impact our society and individuals.