Human flourishing

Most human beings want to live fulfilled lives that allow them to reach their potential, successfully meet challenges and, as far as possible, determine their destiny. Briefly, they want to flourish. These are ideas that have a long history in philosophical ethics and that remain current in the 21st century.

Flourishing points to ethical positions that are compatible with many ethical theories, principles and values. It is realised in the individual but typically requires supportive social environments.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), like all technologies, can be used for different purposes. From an ethical and human rights point of view one can distinguish three main purposes of AI use: efficiency and optimisation, social control and human flourishing.

These three different purposes are not contradictory or mutually exclusive, but point to very different driving forces for development and utilisation of these technologies. The framing of AI ethics in terms of human flourishing is consistent with numerous national and international ethics guidelines and principles, including those published by the EU’s High Level Expert Group (2019)