Bridging Ethical Gaps: A Case for Virtue Ethics in AI Governance at OTTO
Type
conference keynote
Date Issued
2025
Author(s)
Abstract
Organizations have increasingly focused on governing artificial intelligence (AI) by mainly drawing on deontology and utilitarianism - two ethical frameworks that emphasize principled constraints (the former) or desirable outcomes (the latter). However, both theoretical analysis and practice at Germany’s leading e-commerce company, OTTO, demonstrate the limits of relying too narrowly on these approaches. We show that principles- and outcomes-based mechanisms, while useful, exhibit wellknown weaknesses when put into operation under the uncertainties posed by AI. Building on insights from virtue ethics, we argue that AI governance should give stronger attention to how organizations foster the moral character, practical wisdom, and professional virtues of decisionmakers. Drawing on evidence from OTTO’s AI governance initiatives, we illustrate how a more systematic application of virtue ethics helps overcome the shortcomings of deontological and consequentialist frameworks, thereby strengthening organizational AI governance in complex, fast-changing contexts.
Keywords
AI Governance
Virtue Ethics
Theories of the Good
Decision Making
Case Study
Event Title
Annual Meeting of the Society for Business Ethics
Event Location
Copenhagen