Kant and the Question of Moral Judgment in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

This article analyzes the possibility of attributing moral agency to artificial intelligence (AI) from a Kantian perspective. It argues that although AI systems can simulate ethical behavior through preprogrammed algorithms and rules, they lack transcendental freedom and autonomous will, which are essential conditions for Kantian morality. The study combines key concepts of practical philosophy –such as duty and the categorical imperative– with exploratory experiments illustrating AI responses to moral dilemmas. Findings show that machine actions are amoral, as they are limited to external ends determined by human programmers. The article concludes that Kantian ethics provides a critical framework to highlight the limits of artificial moral agency and emphasizes the need for a human-centered approach in AI development.