AI and the Ethics of Moral Decision-Making | ICFAI 2025
Research Paper

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Ethics of Moral Decision-Making: Integrating Human and Spiritual Values into Legal Frameworks for Ethical AI Development

Firdausi Kabir
Faculty of Law, Federal University Birnin Kebbi
Abstract

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has raised more ethical concerns than ever before, particularly with autonomous decision-making systems. Even more modern AI systems can carry out growingly intricate work with fewer human interventions, putting into doubt accountability, fairness, transparency, and the ethical consequences of the machine-directed decision. Though important literature has been done concerning AI ethics in terms of technical, legal, and philosophical frameworks, the inclusion of human and spiritual values within the framework of AI judgments is currently a critical gap. The ethical consideration of human values, such as empathy, justice, and human dignity, are fundamental aspects of human consideration, but their implementation in the algorithmic systems is scarce. Spiritual values, which include moral principles based on various cultural, religious, and philosophical traditions, provide another complementary aspect to the control of AI behaviour, to make sure that autonomous systems are in line with the expectations of morality and ethical propriety of society. The paper aims to analyse how human and spiritual values can be integrated in a legal and policy framework to develop ethical AI. The research uses an interdisciplinary methodology by taking the perspectives of philosophy, theology, computer science, and law to theorise a model where-by the making of ethical decisions can be integrated within AI systems. The study relies on the literature on AI ethics, human centred design, and legal governance to determine the existing gaps and challenges when it comes to the translation of abstract ethical principles into computational mechanisms. There are case studies in the fields of autonomous vehicles, healthcare, and law enforcement that are examined to demonstrate the potential of the involvement of moral and spiritual considerations in AI algorithms, as well as their limitations. Some of the major research questions that were used to guide this research include: How do we operationalize human and spiritual values in AI systems? How can legal and policy processes be used to guarantee adherence to ethical standards? How far can AI systems be programmed to incorporate cross-cultural ethics at the expense of technical effectiveness? Answering these questions, the paper helps to develop a more comprehensive view of AI ethics, which is not limited to technical or utilitarian methods. The results serve as an additional indication that making AI human and spiritual is not just an imaginary task but a viable requirement to adjust technology to the standards and rules of society, as well as the expectations of the ethical framework. Some of the operationalisation strategies of ethical principles are the development of value-sensitive algorithms, ethical compliance regulatory guidelines, and interdisciplinary oversight mechanisms. Additionally, the paper identifies the possible obstacles, including cultural pluralism, interpretative ambiguities of moral codes, and technical constraints of algorithm design, which should be resolved to accomplish successful integration.

Keywords
Artificial Intelligence Ethical Decision-Making Human Values Spiritual Values AI Governance