AI Ethics and Society

The Morality Illusion: Who’s Really Accountable When AI Goes Wrong?

A robot artist is detained at the border. A chess bot that fractures a child’s finger. A hiring algorithm that quietly sidelines women.

These aren’t hypotheticals — they’re signs of a world grappling with machine morality, where we treat code as if it has a conscience. In this unflinching episode, Kate and Andrew dive into the ethical maze of modern AI: how we project human values onto non-human systems, and what happens when we let those systems make decisions that carry real-world consequences.

They explore the limits of empathy in machines, the risks of automation without oversight, and the growing tension between technological progress and public accountability. From recruitment bias to privacy loss and economic displacement, the conversation highlights why ethical frameworks — and cultural change — are no longer optional.

If we’re building machines that act like moral agents, we need to start acting like responsible creators.

This episode doesn’t offer easy answers — but it does ask the questions we can’t afford to ignore.