Here in China, the mainstream political culture can be labeled Confucian Communism: the political system is officially Marxist but it increasingly seeks values-based legitimacy by drawing on the millennia old Confucian tradition. Both the Marxist and Confucian traditions are diverse and complex, but their core ethical commitments provide rich resources for thinking about human-machine interaction. Both Confucianism and Communism advocate freedom from material necessity. But what comes after we no longer have to strive for material goods for the sake of survival? Confucian ethics specifies that the good life involves humane（仁） and harmonious (和）social relations, starting with the family and extending outwards. Communist ethics, in line with Marx’s ideal of higher communism, specifies that the good life involves creative work, with advanced machinery doing the socially necessary labor. How might these two ideals inform the design of AI, and in doing so, increase the likelihood that they can be realized in practice? Let me provide some examples, inspired what Bella Pei Wang writes in chapter five of our book Just Hierarchy (Princeton University Press, 2020):
- AI-Powered Self-Driving Cars. Confucians will welcome technology that frees humans from the need to drive, thus allowing us to spend more time interacting with loved ones (for example, we can engage in intimate chats while the car drives itself). Communists will also welcome such technology if it allows humans to engage in creative work in the car (such as writing or painting) rather than the boring and necessary task of driving (but human-driven cars also involve creativity in such cases as training for racing car drivers).
- AI-Powered Robot Caregivers. Confucians will welcome such technology if it allows the elderly or the disabled to spend more productive time with loved ones. But they will worry about the technology if it leads to the illusion of emotional attachment between humans and machines (so, for example, the AI robot could be designed to be ugly rather than cute to minimize the risk of emotional attachment). Communists will welcome such technology if it allows the human to do creative activity (e.g. cooking magnificent meals) that would otherwise be difficult to do.
- AI-Powered Teachers. Confucians prioritize one-on-one teaching where the teacher gains the trust of the student and provides the conditions for intellectual and moral development by means of a curriculum that is tailored to the individual’s particular needs and interests, by setting a good example, and by means of rituals (for example, after class eating, drinking, and singing) that generate a sense of mutual care and love. An AI cannot replace the human teacher and the Confucian will worry about attempts to do so except in situations where adverse circumstances do not allow for real human teachers. Even then, however, AI-Powered Teachers are viewed as necessary second choices. Communists will welcome such technology if it increases the likelihood that the student can realize his or her creative potential (e.g. AI can help composers to improve their music), so long as the AI does not displace or discourage human creativity.
These proposals may be particularly relevant in the Chinese context that is strongly influenced by the Confucian and Communist traditions but they can also be considered in other contexts that have overlapping traditions and ideals.
