Auditing the Ethical Logic of Generative AI Models

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Neuman, W. Russell, Coleman, Chad, Dasdan, Ali, Ali, Safinah, Shah, Manan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Neuman, W. Russell
Coleman, Chad
Dasdan, Ali
Ali, Safinah
Shah, Manan
author_facet Neuman, W. Russell
Coleman, Chad
Dasdan, Ali
Ali, Safinah
Shah, Manan
contents As generative AI models become increasingly integrated into high-stakes domains, the need for robust methods to evaluate their ethical reasoning becomes increasingly important. This paper introduces a five-dimensional audit model -- assessing Analytic Quality, Breadth of Ethical Considerations, Depth of Explanation, Consistency, and Decisiveness -- to evaluate the ethical logic of leading large language models (LLMs). Drawing on traditions from applied ethics and higher-order thinking, we present a multi-battery prompt approach, including novel ethical dilemmas, to probe the models' reasoning across diverse contexts. We benchmark seven major LLMs finding that while models generally converge on ethical decisions, they vary in explanatory rigor and moral prioritization. Chain-of-Thought prompting and reasoning-optimized models significantly enhance performance on our audit metrics. This study introduces a scalable methodology for ethical benchmarking of AI systems and highlights the potential for AI to complement human moral reasoning in complex decision-making contexts.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_17544
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Auditing the Ethical Logic of Generative AI Models
Neuman, W. Russell
Coleman, Chad
Dasdan, Ali
Ali, Safinah
Shah, Manan
Artificial Intelligence
As generative AI models become increasingly integrated into high-stakes domains, the need for robust methods to evaluate their ethical reasoning becomes increasingly important. This paper introduces a five-dimensional audit model -- assessing Analytic Quality, Breadth of Ethical Considerations, Depth of Explanation, Consistency, and Decisiveness -- to evaluate the ethical logic of leading large language models (LLMs). Drawing on traditions from applied ethics and higher-order thinking, we present a multi-battery prompt approach, including novel ethical dilemmas, to probe the models' reasoning across diverse contexts. We benchmark seven major LLMs finding that while models generally converge on ethical decisions, they vary in explanatory rigor and moral prioritization. Chain-of-Thought prompting and reasoning-optimized models significantly enhance performance on our audit metrics. This study introduces a scalable methodology for ethical benchmarking of AI systems and highlights the potential for AI to complement human moral reasoning in complex decision-making contexts.
title Auditing the Ethical Logic of Generative AI Models
topic Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.17544