AIF Insights No. 4 (2026) | The Machine Has No Heart: Culturally Grounded Ethics for the Infosphere

AIF Insights No. 4 (2026) | The Machine Has No Heart: Culturally Grounded Ethics for the Infosphere

Release: 2026-02-05
Author: ALDA Waddell, PhD Student

This paper critiques dominant AI ethics frameworks that focus on machines rather than the social and cultural contexts in which they operate. It argues that ethical AI governance should shift from asking whether an AI system is ethical to examining whether its relationship with society is ethical. Using Cambodia as a case study, the paper highlights the limits of universal governance models and proposes an embedded approach informed by sociotechnical theory and Buddhist ethics. It concludes that ethical AI depends less on technical compliance and more on culturally grounded, adaptive governance processes.

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