mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

A Low-Cost Ethics Shaping Approach for Designing Reinforcement Learning Agents

arXiv 1712.04172 ↗First posted 12 Dec 2017cs.AIcited by 18

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Abstract (arXiv)

This paper proposes a low-cost, easily realizable strategy to equip a reinforcement learning (RL) agent the capability of behaving ethically. Our model allows the designers of RL agents to solely focus on the task to achieve, without having to worry about the implementation of multiple trivial ethical patterns to follow. Based on the assumption that the majority of human behavior, regardless which goals they are achieving, is ethical, our design integrates human policy with the RL policy to achieve the target objective with less chance of violating the ethical code that human beings normally obey.

Key facts. Cited by 18 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). First posted on arXiv 12 Dec 2017.

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Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2021: 2; 2022: 3; 2023: 2; 2024: 5; 2025: 4; 2026: 2.

18 papers.

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  1. 2021MORAL: Aligning AI with Human Norms through Multi-Objective Reinforced Active Learningcited by 25
  2. 2023Mind the Gap: Offline Policy Optimization for Imperfect Rewardscited by 15
  3. 2022Flexible Attention-Based Multi-Policy Fusion for Efficient Deep Reinforcement Learningcited by 5
  4. 2022Reinforcement Learning Guided by Provable Normative Compliancecited by 3
  5. 2024Reinforcement Learning and Machine ethics:a systematic reviewcited by 3
  6. 2025Addressing Moral Uncertainty using Large Language Models for Ethical Decision-Makingcited by 3
  7. 2021On Assessing The Safety of Reinforcement Learning algorithms Using Formal Methodscited by 2
  8. 2022Learning Behavioral Soft Constraints from Demonstrationscited by 2
  9. 2024Formal Ethical Obligations in Reinforcement Learning Agents: Verification and Policy Updatescited by 2
  10. 2026Interactionless Inverse Reinforcement Learning: A Data-Centric Framework for Durable Alignmentcited by 1
  11. 2023Adaptive reinforcement learning of multi-agent ethically-aligned behaviours: the QSOM and QDSOM algorithmscited by 0
  12. 2024GOV-REK: Governed Reward Engineering Kernels for Designing Robust Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Systemscited by 0
6 more
  1. 2024Can Artificial Intelligence Embody Moral Values?cited by 0
  2. 2024Building Altruistic and Moral AI Agent with Brain-inspired Emotional Empathy Mechanismscited by 0
  3. 2025ApplE: A Modular Ontology of Applied Ethics and Event Context for Ethical Decision Modelingcited by 0
  4. 2025HAVA: Hybrid Approach to Value-Alignment through Reward Weighing for Reinforcement Learningcited by 0
  5. 2025Toward Virtuous Reinforcement Learning: A Critique and Roadmapcited by 0
  6. 2026The Alignment Target Problem: Divergent Moral Judgments of Humans, AI Systems, and Their Designerscited by 0