Abstract: It is true that artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in today’s society, yet it also challenges the current social ethical system by triggering the question: who should be responsible for the accidents involving intelligent machines? The new instrumentalism claims that machines should be regarded as slaves. The supporters of machine ethics hold that intelligent machines should be regarded as moral agents. However, both stances are faced with many challenging problems. Comparatively speaking, the hybrid approach is more rational in that it takes the holistic perspective, arguing that the status of moral agent should be extended to nonhuman entities. Following this rationale, all agents related to intelligent machines should be assigned for the joint responsibility in events involving intelligent machines.

Key words:  artificial intelligence, responsibility vacancy, new instrumentalism, machine ethics, extended agent