# The social dilemma in artificial intelligence development and why we have to solve it

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2107.12977 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.12977/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 8 of its 75 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 27 Jul 2021.

## Builds on (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [Principles alone cannot guarantee ethical AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.06668/) (2019)
- [The Ethics of AI Ethics -- An Evaluation of Guidelines](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.03425/) (2019)
- [Artificial Intelligence: the global landscape of ethics guidelines](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.11668/) (2019)
- [The social dilemma of autonomous vehicles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1510.03346/) (2015)
- [The AI Index 2021 Annual Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.06312/) (2021)
- [Towards Moral Autonomous Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.04741/) (2017)
- [Echo Chambers on Social Media: A comparative analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.09603/) (2020)
- [Ethics in the Software Development Process: From Codes of Conduct to Ethical Deliberation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.03016/) (2020)

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Evaluating Cooperation in LLM Social Groups through Elected Leadership](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.11721/) (2026)
- [Needs-aware Artificial Intelligence: AI that 'serves [human] needs'](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.04977/) (2022)
- [Needs and Artificial Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.03715/) (2022)
- [Learning Incentive Structures for Cooperative Resilience in Multi-Agent Systems under Social Dilemmas](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.22292/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

While the demand for ethical artificial intelligence (AI) systems increases, the number of unethical uses of AI accelerates, even though there is no shortage of ethical guidelines. We argue that a possible underlying cause for this is that AI developers face a social dilemma in AI development ethics, preventing the widespread adaptation of ethical best practices. We define the social dilemma for AI development and describe why the current crisis in AI development ethics cannot be solved without relieving AI developers of their social dilemma. We argue that AI development must be professionalised to overcome the social dilemma, and discuss how medicine can be used as a template in this process.