# Atomist or Holist? A Diagnosis and Vision for More Productive Interdisciplinary AI Ethics Dialogue

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.09174 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.09174/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 14 of its 127 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 19 Aug 2022.

## Builds on (most cited first, 14 of 14)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [An Image is Worth 16x16 Words: Transformers for Image Recognition at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.11929/) (2020)
- [Aligning AI With Shared Human Values](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.02275/) (2020)
- [Are we done with ImageNet?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.07159/) (2020)
- [Principles alone cannot guarantee ethical AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.06668/) (2019)
- [Beyond Fair Pay: Ethical Implications of NLP Crowdsourcing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.10097/) (2021)
- [Institutionalising Ethics in AI through Broader Impact Requirements](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.11039/) (2021)
- [AI Ethics Statements -- Analysis and lessons learnt from NeurIPS Broader Impact Statements](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.01705/) (2021)
- [Data Science as Political Action: Grounding Data Science in a Politics of Justice](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.03435/) (2018)
- [Designing for Human Rights in AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.04949/) (2020)
- [It's Time to Do Something: Mitigating the Negative Impacts of Computing Through a Change to the Peer Review Process](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.09544/) (2021)
- [AI virtues -- The missing link in putting AI ethics into practice](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.12750/) (2020)
- [Embedded EthiCS: Integrating Ethics Broadly Across Computer Science Education](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.05686/) (2018)
- [Use of Formal Ethical Reviews in NLP Literature: Historical Trends and Current Practices](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.01105/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Decolonial AI Alignment: Openness, Vi'sedsa-Dharma, and Including Excluded Knowledges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.05030/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In response to growing recognition of the social impact of new AI-based technologies, major AI and ML conferences and journals now encourage or require papers to include ethics impact statements and undergo ethics reviews. This move has sparked heated debate concerning the role of ethics in AI research, at times devolving into name-calling and threats of "cancellation." We diagnose this conflict as one between atomist and holist ideologies. Among other things, atomists believe facts are and should be kept separate from values, while holists believe facts and values are and should be inextricable from one another. With the goal of reducing disciplinary polarization, we draw on numerous philosophical and historical sources to describe each ideology's core beliefs and assumptions. Finally, we call on atomists and holists within the ever-expanding data science community to exhibit greater empathy during ethical disagreements and propose four targeted strategies to ensure AI research benefits society.