Mark Graves - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Mark Graves

Research paper thumbnail of Mind, Brain and the Elusive Soul

Research paper thumbnail of AI Reading Theology

Research paper thumbnail of Using the LIWC program to study dreams

Dreaming, Mar 1, 2018

This article presents the results of an analysis of a large set of dream reports (N = 5,208) usin... more This article presents the results of an analysis of a large set of dream reports (N = 5,208) using the Linguistic Inventory and Word Count (LIWC) system of Pennebaker, Boyd, Jordan, and Blackburn (2015). The findings indicate that, in comparison with other kinds of texts studied by LIWC, dream reports are distinctive in having high frequencies of the following language categories: focus on the past, first-person singular words, personal pronouns, authenticity, dictionary words, motion, space, and home. The dream reports have relatively low frequencies of these LIWC categories: informal language, focus on the present, assent, positive emotions, clout, second-person references, affective processes, and quotation marks. In addition, the LIWC analysis was able to identify and distinguish between the key content features of recent dreams, nightmares, and lucid dreams. These results confirm earlier findings of McNamara (2008) and Hawkins and Boyd (2017) and support the further use of LIWC in dream research, in coordination with other empirical methods of study.

Research paper thumbnail of Habits, Tendencies, and Habitus: The Embodied Soul’s Dispositions of Mind, Body, and Person

Research paper thumbnail of <title>Coarse-grained scheduling for astronomy satellites</title>

Proceedings of SPIE, Mar 1, 1994

Research paper thumbnail of A constraint-logic based implementation of the coarse-grained approach to data acquisition scheduling of the International Ultraviolet Explorer orbiting observatory

International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Oct 1, 1994

Scbedu ng BACKGROUND In 1994 there are six large, long-lived astronomy satellites in operatio-_ A... more Scbedu ng BACKGROUND In 1994 there are six large, long-lived astronomy satellites in operatio-_ Additional missions are planned by the U.S. and other countries by the end of the decade. The general problem of setting up a yearly schedule of science observations for an astronomy satellite is a challenge which will exist in various incarnations for the foreseeable future.

Research paper thumbnail of Viewing genome data as objects for application development

PubMed, 1995

Genomics is becoming a data-intensive science, and an increasing number of laboratories are gener... more Genomics is becoming a data-intensive science, and an increasing number of laboratories are generating data which swamps storage in traditional paper-and-ink notebooks. Capturing the data flow requires large systems with multiple applications manipulating the same or similar data. Large systems often have conflicting requirements for data representation. Consistency across applications is a prime consideration, and appropriate data representation is an important issue in developing practical systems for molecular biologists. Graphs are a natural representation for describing genome data, while objects are good for modeling the behavior necessary for laboratory applications. We present a method for translating graph descriptions of genome data into objects using objects as views on graphs. Graph representations describe genome concepts while objects capture individual views for application development insuring consistency across genome applications.

Research paper thumbnail of A graph conceptual model for developing human genome center databases

Computers in Biology and Medicine, May 1, 1996

We have developed a representation of genome data which has proven itself useful for describing d... more We have developed a representation of genome data which has proven itself useful for describing data at a Human Genome Center. Genomic data have a graph-like structure and representing the concepts and relationships of genetics as a graph simplifies the development of databases for genome laboratories. Graphs are a comfortable communication medium for biologists and computer scientists and graph diagrams

Research paper thumbnail of Integrating order and distance relationships from heterogeneous maps

PubMed, 1993

There is no automatic mechanism to integrate information between heterogeneous genome maps. Curre... more There is no automatic mechanism to integrate information between heterogeneous genome maps. Currently, integration is a difficult, manual process. We have developed a process for knowledge base design, and we use this to integrate order and distance relationships between genetic linkage, radiation hybrid, and physical maps. Until now, the only way to develop a persistent, knowledge-intensive application was to either develop a new knowledge base from scratch or coerce the application to fit an existing knowledge base. This was not from lack of interest by the knowledge base or database community, but merely from a lack of theoretical tools powerful enough to tackle the problem. We import formalisms from knowledge representation, natural language semantics, programming language research, and databases. These form a strong, theoretical foundation for knowledge base design upon which we have implemented the knowledge base design tool called WEAVE.

Research paper thumbnail of Consciousness, Trauma, and Health: A Cognitive Systems Response to Payne, Walsh, and Oman

Pastoral Psychology, Sep 7, 2011

Religion and cognitive science contribute complementary understandings of the human person, and a... more Religion and cognitive science contribute complementary understandings of the human person, and an integrated perspective can bridge clinical, spiritual, and philosophical resources to facilitate healing and growth. Drawing upon cognitive science and systems theory, I respond to Richard Payne, Mary Walsh, and Doug Oman's comments on my Mind, Brain, and the

Research paper thumbnail of Cultivating Moral Attention: a Virtue-Oriented Approach to Responsible Data Science in Healthcare

Philosophy & Technology, Nov 2, 2021

In the past few years, the ethical ramifications of AI technologies (in particular data science) ... more In the past few years, the ethical ramifications of AI technologies (in particular data science) have been at the center of intense debates. Considerable attention has been devoted to understanding how a morally responsible practice of data science can be promoted and which values have to shape it. In this context, ethics and moral responsibility have been mainly conceptualized as compliance to widely shared principles. However, several scholars have highlighted the limitations of such a principled approach. Drawing from microethics and the virtue theory tradition, in this paper, we formulate a different approach to ethics in data science which is based on a different conception of "being ethical" and, ultimately, of what it means to promote a morally responsible data science. First, we develop the idea that, rather than only compliance, ethical decision-making consists in using certain moral abilities (e.g., virtues), which are cultivated by practicing and exercising them in the data science process. An aspect of virtue development that we discuss here is moral attention, which is the ability of data scientists to identify the ethical relevance of their own technical decisions in data science activities. Next, by elaborating on the capability approach, we define a technical act as ethically relevant when it impacts one or more of the basic human capabilities of data subjects. Therefore, rather than "applying ethics" (which can be mindless), data scientists should cultivate ethics as a form of reflection on how technical choices and ethical impacts shape one another. Finally, we show how this microethical framework concretely works, by dissecting the ethical dimension of the technical procedures involved in data understanding and preparation of electronic health records.

Research paper thumbnail of Theories and tools for designing application-specific knowledge base data models

... Doctoral Committee: Professor William Rounds, Chair Associate Professor Michael Boehnke Assis... more ... Doctoral Committee: Professor William Rounds, Chair Associate Professor Michael Boehnke Assistant Professor Edmund Durfee Associate Professor John Laird Assistant Professor Elke Rundensteiner Page 2. c Mark Graves 1993 All Rights Reserved Page 3. To Mom, ...

Research paper thumbnail of Data Note System for Capturing Laboratory Data

Genomics, Jul 1, 1997

The complexity of genome data limits the usefulness of traditional database management systems. T... more The complexity of genome data limits the usefulness of traditional database management systems. The highly interconnected structure of genome data can be captured in a data representation language based on the mathematical formalism of graphs. We have tailored graphs for describing genome data, and have developed a database management system, called the Data Note System, for developing small databases to capture data from genome laboratories. To simplify the use of the Data Note System, a series of tools with graphical user interfaces have been developed. The system is designed to be easy to install and use by novice database developers with a minimal amount of computer expertise. We describe the tools and present examples of their use. The system consists of a storage facility, a schema editing tool to simplify the design of small databases, and three tools for data entry and querying.

Research paper thumbnail of Emergent Models for Moral AI Spirituality

International Journal of Interactive Multimedia and Artificial Intelligence, 2021

Examining AI spirituality can illuminate problematic assumptions about human spirituality and AI ... more Examining AI spirituality can illuminate problematic assumptions about human spirituality and AI cognition, suggest possible directions for AI development, reduce uncertainty about future AI, and yield a methodological lens sufficient to investigate human-AI sociotechnical interaction and morality. Incompatible philosophical assumptions about human spirituality and AI limit investigations of both and suggest a vast gulf between them. An emergentist approach can replace dualist assumptions about human spirituality and identify emergent behavior in AI computation to overcome overly reductionist assumptions about computation. Using general systems theory to organize models of human experience yields insight into human morality and spirituality, upon which AI modeling can also draw. In this context, the pragmatist Josiah Royce's semiotic philosophy of spirituality identifies unanticipated overlap between symbolic AI and spirituality and suggests criteria for a human-AI community focused on modeling morality that would result in an emergent Interpreter-Spirit sufficient to influence the ongoing development of human and AI morality and spirituality.

Research paper thumbnail of The Emergence of Transcendental Norms in Human Systems

Zygon, Sep 1, 2009

Terrence Deacon has described three orders of emergence; Arthur Peacocke and others have suggeste... more Terrence Deacon has described three orders of emergence; Arthur Peacocke and others have suggested four levels of human systems and sciences; and Philip Clayton has postulated an additional, transcendent, level. Orders and levels describe distinct aspects of emergence, with orders characterizing topological complexity and levels characterizing theoretical knowledge and causal power. By using Deacon's orders to analyze and relate each of the four "lower" levels one can project that analysis on the transcendent level to gain insight into the teleodynamic emergence of transcendent-level systems. I argue that cross-cultural interactions among human culturallevel systems results in the emergence of the "universal" transcendental norms historically characterized as the Greek Good, Beauty, and Truth. These norms require a dynamic existence that I characterize as the emergence of Spirit, using Josiah Royce's community of interpretation, and that I suggest provides a pragmatic clarification of Clayton's transcendent level. An understanding of those emergent norms clarifies ethical systems, highlights the importance of aesthetics in understanding scientific systems, and suggests the necessity of community in fruitful science-and-religion dialogue on human systems.

Research paper thumbnail of Grace and virtue: Theological and psychological dispositions and practices

Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Aug 1, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of Graph database systems

IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, Nov 1, 1995

Page 1. Mark Graves, Ellen R. Bergeman, and Charles B. Lawrence Deportment of Cell Biology Boylor... more Page 1. Mark Graves, Ellen R. Bergeman, and Charles B. Lawrence Deportment of Cell Biology Boylor College of Medicine ! November/December 1995 Graph Database Systems enome project data are being generated G at a rapidly increasing rate as the focus ...

Research paper thumbnail of Application of knowledge base design techniques to genetic markers

Knowledge bases can be quickly accepted into realistic settings if they are developed rapidly and... more Knowledge bases can be quickly accepted into realistic settings if they are developed rapidly and they support critical tasks. Genetics is one area where knowledge management is necessary to provide intelligent access to complex information. Multiple reasoning systems accessing the same knowledge base can contribute directly to the progress of science. Genetics is a rapidly changing field and the rapid development of intelligent systems is becoming crucial for the analysis of information. Genetic data is also being generated at an exponentially growing rate and traditional techniques are being overwhelmed. A flexible knowledge base which stores the information and makes it available to a variety of reasoning systems will speed up the transition of laboratory research to medical practice. We have developed a process for designing data models for application-specific knowledge bases. This process is supported by a knowledge base design tool, which we call WEAVE, that creates a prototype knowledge base when given a data model definition by a knowledge base developer. The process is formalized using theoretical results from knowledge representation and programming language theory. This mix of theoretical results and their integration in an implemented system has proven useful for a real-world application. We show how our knowledge base design process can be used to develop a data model for genetic markers, which are biological constructs used to search for genes associated with genetic diseases.

Research paper thumbnail of Theological Foundations for Moral Artificial Intelligence

Journal of Moral Theology, Apr 2, 2022

Theological Foundations for Moral Artificial Intelligence 1 Mark Graves EY IDEAS FROM MORAL THEOL... more Theological Foundations for Moral Artificial Intelligence 1 Mark Graves EY IDEAS FROM MORAL THEOLOGY CAN help make AI compatible with human morality by guiding the integration of disparate approaches to AI development toward a morally good end. As AI becomes more pervasive in society, humanity would benefit from AI development incorporating a theologiand characterize its historically contextualized moral norms. As an initial foray into development of an integrative framework, I describe an AI system that could plausibly be constructed with effort comparable to other major AI initiatives, and that would have the capacity to consider itself as a moral actor (a precursor to moral agency). 2 Constructing such a system would open up new possibilities for moral AI, enable sophisticated modeling of human morality, and lead to new insights into ethics and moral behavior. Closer at hand, my proposal identifies issues in AI and morality that require both computational and ethical expertise to resolve and are not well known and understood across the necessary disciplines. its world and predict the moral consequences of its actions. To do so 1 The initiation of the project described by this manuscript was made possible through a fellowship funded by John Templeton Foundation through St. Andrews University and the University of Notre Dame Center for Theology, Science & Human Flourishing with Celia Deane-Drummond. My project benefited from interactions through St. Andrews and at Notre Dame, especially conversations with Darcia Narváez, Emanuele Ratti, Tim Reilly, and Adam Willows and specific topics of the paper were informed by early conversations with Jean Porter, Bill Mattison, and Walter Scheirer. Thanks to Bob Lasalle-Klein, Rene Sanchez, José Sols Lucia, Pat Lippert, and other members of the John Courtney Murray group for comments and suggestions on an earlier draft. Andrew Porter was very helpful in identifying an early direction.

Research paper thumbnail of A graph-theoretic data model for genome mapping databases

... needs for mapping databases. 8. Acknowledgments The authors thank Bob Cottingham, Dan Davison... more ... needs for mapping databases. 8. Acknowledgments The authors thank Bob Cottingham, Dan Davison, Wayne Parrott, Joanna Power, and Randy Smith for fre-quent discussions of the ideas in this paper. Thanks also to Jeff ...

Research paper thumbnail of Mind, Brain and the Elusive Soul

Research paper thumbnail of AI Reading Theology

Research paper thumbnail of Using the LIWC program to study dreams

Dreaming, Mar 1, 2018

This article presents the results of an analysis of a large set of dream reports (N = 5,208) usin... more This article presents the results of an analysis of a large set of dream reports (N = 5,208) using the Linguistic Inventory and Word Count (LIWC) system of Pennebaker, Boyd, Jordan, and Blackburn (2015). The findings indicate that, in comparison with other kinds of texts studied by LIWC, dream reports are distinctive in having high frequencies of the following language categories: focus on the past, first-person singular words, personal pronouns, authenticity, dictionary words, motion, space, and home. The dream reports have relatively low frequencies of these LIWC categories: informal language, focus on the present, assent, positive emotions, clout, second-person references, affective processes, and quotation marks. In addition, the LIWC analysis was able to identify and distinguish between the key content features of recent dreams, nightmares, and lucid dreams. These results confirm earlier findings of McNamara (2008) and Hawkins and Boyd (2017) and support the further use of LIWC in dream research, in coordination with other empirical methods of study.

Research paper thumbnail of Habits, Tendencies, and Habitus: The Embodied Soul’s Dispositions of Mind, Body, and Person

Research paper thumbnail of <title>Coarse-grained scheduling for astronomy satellites</title>

Proceedings of SPIE, Mar 1, 1994

Research paper thumbnail of A constraint-logic based implementation of the coarse-grained approach to data acquisition scheduling of the International Ultraviolet Explorer orbiting observatory

International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Oct 1, 1994

Scbedu ng BACKGROUND In 1994 there are six large, long-lived astronomy satellites in operatio-_ A... more Scbedu ng BACKGROUND In 1994 there are six large, long-lived astronomy satellites in operatio-_ Additional missions are planned by the U.S. and other countries by the end of the decade. The general problem of setting up a yearly schedule of science observations for an astronomy satellite is a challenge which will exist in various incarnations for the foreseeable future.

Research paper thumbnail of Viewing genome data as objects for application development

PubMed, 1995

Genomics is becoming a data-intensive science, and an increasing number of laboratories are gener... more Genomics is becoming a data-intensive science, and an increasing number of laboratories are generating data which swamps storage in traditional paper-and-ink notebooks. Capturing the data flow requires large systems with multiple applications manipulating the same or similar data. Large systems often have conflicting requirements for data representation. Consistency across applications is a prime consideration, and appropriate data representation is an important issue in developing practical systems for molecular biologists. Graphs are a natural representation for describing genome data, while objects are good for modeling the behavior necessary for laboratory applications. We present a method for translating graph descriptions of genome data into objects using objects as views on graphs. Graph representations describe genome concepts while objects capture individual views for application development insuring consistency across genome applications.

Research paper thumbnail of A graph conceptual model for developing human genome center databases

Computers in Biology and Medicine, May 1, 1996

We have developed a representation of genome data which has proven itself useful for describing d... more We have developed a representation of genome data which has proven itself useful for describing data at a Human Genome Center. Genomic data have a graph-like structure and representing the concepts and relationships of genetics as a graph simplifies the development of databases for genome laboratories. Graphs are a comfortable communication medium for biologists and computer scientists and graph diagrams

Research paper thumbnail of Integrating order and distance relationships from heterogeneous maps

PubMed, 1993

There is no automatic mechanism to integrate information between heterogeneous genome maps. Curre... more There is no automatic mechanism to integrate information between heterogeneous genome maps. Currently, integration is a difficult, manual process. We have developed a process for knowledge base design, and we use this to integrate order and distance relationships between genetic linkage, radiation hybrid, and physical maps. Until now, the only way to develop a persistent, knowledge-intensive application was to either develop a new knowledge base from scratch or coerce the application to fit an existing knowledge base. This was not from lack of interest by the knowledge base or database community, but merely from a lack of theoretical tools powerful enough to tackle the problem. We import formalisms from knowledge representation, natural language semantics, programming language research, and databases. These form a strong, theoretical foundation for knowledge base design upon which we have implemented the knowledge base design tool called WEAVE.

Research paper thumbnail of Consciousness, Trauma, and Health: A Cognitive Systems Response to Payne, Walsh, and Oman

Pastoral Psychology, Sep 7, 2011

Religion and cognitive science contribute complementary understandings of the human person, and a... more Religion and cognitive science contribute complementary understandings of the human person, and an integrated perspective can bridge clinical, spiritual, and philosophical resources to facilitate healing and growth. Drawing upon cognitive science and systems theory, I respond to Richard Payne, Mary Walsh, and Doug Oman's comments on my Mind, Brain, and the

Research paper thumbnail of Cultivating Moral Attention: a Virtue-Oriented Approach to Responsible Data Science in Healthcare

Philosophy & Technology, Nov 2, 2021

In the past few years, the ethical ramifications of AI technologies (in particular data science) ... more In the past few years, the ethical ramifications of AI technologies (in particular data science) have been at the center of intense debates. Considerable attention has been devoted to understanding how a morally responsible practice of data science can be promoted and which values have to shape it. In this context, ethics and moral responsibility have been mainly conceptualized as compliance to widely shared principles. However, several scholars have highlighted the limitations of such a principled approach. Drawing from microethics and the virtue theory tradition, in this paper, we formulate a different approach to ethics in data science which is based on a different conception of "being ethical" and, ultimately, of what it means to promote a morally responsible data science. First, we develop the idea that, rather than only compliance, ethical decision-making consists in using certain moral abilities (e.g., virtues), which are cultivated by practicing and exercising them in the data science process. An aspect of virtue development that we discuss here is moral attention, which is the ability of data scientists to identify the ethical relevance of their own technical decisions in data science activities. Next, by elaborating on the capability approach, we define a technical act as ethically relevant when it impacts one or more of the basic human capabilities of data subjects. Therefore, rather than "applying ethics" (which can be mindless), data scientists should cultivate ethics as a form of reflection on how technical choices and ethical impacts shape one another. Finally, we show how this microethical framework concretely works, by dissecting the ethical dimension of the technical procedures involved in data understanding and preparation of electronic health records.

Research paper thumbnail of Theories and tools for designing application-specific knowledge base data models

... Doctoral Committee: Professor William Rounds, Chair Associate Professor Michael Boehnke Assis... more ... Doctoral Committee: Professor William Rounds, Chair Associate Professor Michael Boehnke Assistant Professor Edmund Durfee Associate Professor John Laird Assistant Professor Elke Rundensteiner Page 2. c Mark Graves 1993 All Rights Reserved Page 3. To Mom, ...

Research paper thumbnail of Data Note System for Capturing Laboratory Data

Genomics, Jul 1, 1997

The complexity of genome data limits the usefulness of traditional database management systems. T... more The complexity of genome data limits the usefulness of traditional database management systems. The highly interconnected structure of genome data can be captured in a data representation language based on the mathematical formalism of graphs. We have tailored graphs for describing genome data, and have developed a database management system, called the Data Note System, for developing small databases to capture data from genome laboratories. To simplify the use of the Data Note System, a series of tools with graphical user interfaces have been developed. The system is designed to be easy to install and use by novice database developers with a minimal amount of computer expertise. We describe the tools and present examples of their use. The system consists of a storage facility, a schema editing tool to simplify the design of small databases, and three tools for data entry and querying.

Research paper thumbnail of Emergent Models for Moral AI Spirituality

International Journal of Interactive Multimedia and Artificial Intelligence, 2021

Examining AI spirituality can illuminate problematic assumptions about human spirituality and AI ... more Examining AI spirituality can illuminate problematic assumptions about human spirituality and AI cognition, suggest possible directions for AI development, reduce uncertainty about future AI, and yield a methodological lens sufficient to investigate human-AI sociotechnical interaction and morality. Incompatible philosophical assumptions about human spirituality and AI limit investigations of both and suggest a vast gulf between them. An emergentist approach can replace dualist assumptions about human spirituality and identify emergent behavior in AI computation to overcome overly reductionist assumptions about computation. Using general systems theory to organize models of human experience yields insight into human morality and spirituality, upon which AI modeling can also draw. In this context, the pragmatist Josiah Royce's semiotic philosophy of spirituality identifies unanticipated overlap between symbolic AI and spirituality and suggests criteria for a human-AI community focused on modeling morality that would result in an emergent Interpreter-Spirit sufficient to influence the ongoing development of human and AI morality and spirituality.

Research paper thumbnail of The Emergence of Transcendental Norms in Human Systems

Zygon, Sep 1, 2009

Terrence Deacon has described three orders of emergence; Arthur Peacocke and others have suggeste... more Terrence Deacon has described three orders of emergence; Arthur Peacocke and others have suggested four levels of human systems and sciences; and Philip Clayton has postulated an additional, transcendent, level. Orders and levels describe distinct aspects of emergence, with orders characterizing topological complexity and levels characterizing theoretical knowledge and causal power. By using Deacon's orders to analyze and relate each of the four "lower" levels one can project that analysis on the transcendent level to gain insight into the teleodynamic emergence of transcendent-level systems. I argue that cross-cultural interactions among human culturallevel systems results in the emergence of the "universal" transcendental norms historically characterized as the Greek Good, Beauty, and Truth. These norms require a dynamic existence that I characterize as the emergence of Spirit, using Josiah Royce's community of interpretation, and that I suggest provides a pragmatic clarification of Clayton's transcendent level. An understanding of those emergent norms clarifies ethical systems, highlights the importance of aesthetics in understanding scientific systems, and suggests the necessity of community in fruitful science-and-religion dialogue on human systems.

Research paper thumbnail of Grace and virtue: Theological and psychological dispositions and practices

Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Aug 1, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of Graph database systems

IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, Nov 1, 1995

Page 1. Mark Graves, Ellen R. Bergeman, and Charles B. Lawrence Deportment of Cell Biology Boylor... more Page 1. Mark Graves, Ellen R. Bergeman, and Charles B. Lawrence Deportment of Cell Biology Boylor College of Medicine ! November/December 1995 Graph Database Systems enome project data are being generated G at a rapidly increasing rate as the focus ...

Research paper thumbnail of Application of knowledge base design techniques to genetic markers

Knowledge bases can be quickly accepted into realistic settings if they are developed rapidly and... more Knowledge bases can be quickly accepted into realistic settings if they are developed rapidly and they support critical tasks. Genetics is one area where knowledge management is necessary to provide intelligent access to complex information. Multiple reasoning systems accessing the same knowledge base can contribute directly to the progress of science. Genetics is a rapidly changing field and the rapid development of intelligent systems is becoming crucial for the analysis of information. Genetic data is also being generated at an exponentially growing rate and traditional techniques are being overwhelmed. A flexible knowledge base which stores the information and makes it available to a variety of reasoning systems will speed up the transition of laboratory research to medical practice. We have developed a process for designing data models for application-specific knowledge bases. This process is supported by a knowledge base design tool, which we call WEAVE, that creates a prototype knowledge base when given a data model definition by a knowledge base developer. The process is formalized using theoretical results from knowledge representation and programming language theory. This mix of theoretical results and their integration in an implemented system has proven useful for a real-world application. We show how our knowledge base design process can be used to develop a data model for genetic markers, which are biological constructs used to search for genes associated with genetic diseases.

Research paper thumbnail of Theological Foundations for Moral Artificial Intelligence

Journal of Moral Theology, Apr 2, 2022

Theological Foundations for Moral Artificial Intelligence 1 Mark Graves EY IDEAS FROM MORAL THEOL... more Theological Foundations for Moral Artificial Intelligence 1 Mark Graves EY IDEAS FROM MORAL THEOLOGY CAN help make AI compatible with human morality by guiding the integration of disparate approaches to AI development toward a morally good end. As AI becomes more pervasive in society, humanity would benefit from AI development incorporating a theologiand characterize its historically contextualized moral norms. As an initial foray into development of an integrative framework, I describe an AI system that could plausibly be constructed with effort comparable to other major AI initiatives, and that would have the capacity to consider itself as a moral actor (a precursor to moral agency). 2 Constructing such a system would open up new possibilities for moral AI, enable sophisticated modeling of human morality, and lead to new insights into ethics and moral behavior. Closer at hand, my proposal identifies issues in AI and morality that require both computational and ethical expertise to resolve and are not well known and understood across the necessary disciplines. its world and predict the moral consequences of its actions. To do so 1 The initiation of the project described by this manuscript was made possible through a fellowship funded by John Templeton Foundation through St. Andrews University and the University of Notre Dame Center for Theology, Science & Human Flourishing with Celia Deane-Drummond. My project benefited from interactions through St. Andrews and at Notre Dame, especially conversations with Darcia Narváez, Emanuele Ratti, Tim Reilly, and Adam Willows and specific topics of the paper were informed by early conversations with Jean Porter, Bill Mattison, and Walter Scheirer. Thanks to Bob Lasalle-Klein, Rene Sanchez, José Sols Lucia, Pat Lippert, and other members of the John Courtney Murray group for comments and suggestions on an earlier draft. Andrew Porter was very helpful in identifying an early direction.

Research paper thumbnail of A graph-theoretic data model for genome mapping databases

... needs for mapping databases. 8. Acknowledgments The authors thank Bob Cottingham, Dan Davison... more ... needs for mapping databases. 8. Acknowledgments The authors thank Bob Cottingham, Dan Davison, Wayne Parrott, Joanna Power, and Randy Smith for fre-quent discussions of the ideas in this paper. Thanks also to Jeff ...

Research paper thumbnail of Compassionate AI for Moral Decision-Making, Health, and Well-Being

under review, 2024

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) technology promises plausible increases to hu... more The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) technology promises plausible increases to human flourishing, health, and well-being but raises concerns about possible harms and increased suffering. By making AI compassionate, the alleviation of suffering becomes explicit, rather than proxied, and potential harms caused by AI automation can be turned into benefits. Compassionate healthcare is beneficial for patient health outcomes and satisfaction and improves caregiver resilience and burnout. AI automation has many benefits but may interfere with patient care and autonomy. Incorporating compassion into healthcare reduces potential harms, increases health benefits and well-being, and can protect patient autonomy while providing more responsive and equitable care. Whether and how one conceives of AI as plausibly compassionate depends on ethical concerns and cultural context, including assumptions about human nature and AI personhood. Insights from Buddhism have contributed to scholarship on compassion and can reframe limiting Western perspectives on AI possibilities and limitations. Psychological research on the elements of compassion can guide development of compassionate AI and its incorporation into healthcare. Compassionate AI can be deployed especially into application areas where compassion plays an essential role with high demands on the compassion capacity of caregivers, such as dementia eldercare and palliative care.