The Confucian Counsellor: From AI with Legalist Characteristics to AI with Confucian Values

This paper argues that the socially transformative power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) needs to be informed by values, with the focus here being on Confucian values. AI ‘with Confucian characteristics’ has the potential for enhancing human roles and relationships in the quest for better governance through ethics and morality. However, AI ‘with Legalist characteristics’ has been gaining ground as a means of social engineering to artificially ‘harmonize’ and control society. This paper uses Confucianism as a counter to current ‘new Legalist’ trends, examining the way in which AI could evolve as a more humane partner and advisor for governance. While the Chinese philosophical milieu is employed, the discussion is of import to the world which needs direction in dealing with the multidimensional crises of the current era. The impact of AI is global but its ‘nature’ and learning outcomes remain malleable. Rather than the current institutional and surveillance technologies as deployed in the People’s Republic of China, for example, the paper argues for a shift towards relational values as a digitally embedded resource. Relational, interactive and education methods are already implied in The Analects as the preferred basis of governance, and a virtual ‘Confucian AI counsellor’ could avoid the authoritarian capture and misuse of new AI technologies.