This essay is the main assignment for Education Studies 3A, a compulsory module for all B.Ed. 3rd year students at the University of Johannesburg. The essay is an application or analysis of Kantian ethics in a 4IR environment.
The South African education system is informed by Emmanuel Kant’s theory ‘duty for the sake
of duty’, with this in mind, this essay aims to discuss the moral implications that would arise
within the education system when Kant’s moral principles are made to operate within a 4IR
environment. In the process, this essay will assess Kant’s three categorical imperatives
specifically in relation to Artificial intelligence.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution
The term Forth Industrial Revolution (4IR) was introduced by the founder of the World
Economic Forum, a former professor named Klaus Schwab. Schwab wrote a book titled Fourth
Industrial Revolution to describe an era marked by technological revolution. Xu, David and Kim
(2018:90) define the Forth Industrial Revolution as an era which human beings “move between
digital domains and offline reality with the use of connected technology”. 4IR is growing at a
rather prompt rate and it should not be ignored when looking at education because it brings about
changes along with it. The changes that come with the introduction of 4IR bring shifts in power,
knowledge and wealth. 4IR is comprised of examples such as artificial intelligence, 3D printers,
autonomous vehicles, voice activated assistance, facial recognition scanners and many more.
‘Duty for the sake of Duty’ in relation to 4IR
Emmanuel Kant’s theory ‘Duty for the sake of duty’ argues that, what makes human beings
different from each other is their reasoning. Kant believes human beings’ capacity to reason is
conditioned by their moral positions and views morality through three categorical imperatives.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the art of creating machines that think like human beings and this
creation can develop implications. Implications may arise mainly because AIs do not have the
rationality of human thought; human thought is based on the psychological reasoning which only
human beings have. A rational AI agent would be one that only maximizes their expected and
programmed utility not thinking about new ideas.
Assessing ‘Duty for the sake of duty’ with 4IR
Kant’s theory is purely based on rational argument and opposes both the ‘consequentialist’ and
‘subjective’ positions. Kant believes that humanity’s moral code does not come from
supernatural forces, consequences, emotions or culture. His theory does not provide a ground for
moral argumentation and justification of an answer as right or wrong but he shows that, in order
for people to determine what is right and wrong, they have to use reason. If rationality was to be
operated in 4IR, an implication would inevitably raise. Take a programmed teacher robot for
instance, rationality is a human attribute and since it does not have that, Kant’s argument is
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