A Caution against the Artificialistic Fallacy

Abstract

The casual justification of the influence of a technology, particularly artificial intelligence, by appeal to the existence of the technology constitutes an artificialistic fallacy, analogous to the naturalistic fallacy that is well-known in philosophy. Similar to an invocation of nature to provide moral warrant (the naturalistic fallacy), modern tech evangelists invoke the burgeoning of hardware and software products in order to promote that burgeoning (the artificialistic fallacy). This fallacy is often tacit or committed by omission. Emerging ethical initiatives emphasize the refinement, explanation, and oversight of AI products rather than their fundamental ethical effect, making the fallacy recursive.