# A computational framework for human values

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.02748 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.02748/

## Key facts

- Cited by 10 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 6 of its 42 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 4 May 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [Artificial Intelligence, Values and Alignment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.09768/) (2020)
- [Trustworthy AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.02272/) (2020)
- [Acquiring Background Knowledge to Improve Moral Value Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1709.05467/) (2017)
- [Value alignment: a formal approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.09240/) (2021)
- [A Value-based Trust Assessment Model for Multi-agent Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.13380/) (2019)
- [uHelp: intelligent volunteer search for mutual help communities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.11112/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 10 of 10)

- [Enabling Personalized Long-term Interactions in LLM-based Agents through Persistent Memory and User Profiles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.07925/) (2025)
- [Learning the Value Systems of Societies from Preferences](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.20728/) (2025)
- [Value-Based Rationales Improve Social Experience: A Multiagent Simulation Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.02117/) (2024)
- [Instilling Organisational Values in Firefighters through Simulation-Based Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.13737/) (2025)
- [Learning the Value Systems of Agents with Preference-based and Inverse Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.04518/) (2026)
- [Rethinking How AI Embeds and Adapts to Human Values: Challenges and Opportunities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.17104/) (2025)
- [Value-Aware Multiagent Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.12652/) (2025)
- [Learning the Value Systems of Societies with Preference-based Multi-objective Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.08835/) (2026)
- [Unweighted ranking for value-based decision making with uncertainty](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.13601/) (2026)
- [Building Socio-Affective Artificial Intelligence for Interactive Multi-Agent Simulations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.26927/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In the diverse array of work investigating the nature of human values from psychology, philosophy and social sciences, there is a clear consensus that values guide behaviour. More recently, a recognition that values provide a means to engineer ethical AI has emerged. Indeed, Stuart Russell proposed shifting AI's focus away from simply ``intelligence'' towards intelligence ``provably aligned with human values''. This challenge -- the value alignment problem -- with others including an AI's learning of human values, aggregating individual values to groups, and designing computational mechanisms to reason over values, has energised a sustained research effort. Despite this, no formal, computational definition of values has yet been proposed. We address this through a formal conceptual framework rooted in the social sciences, that provides a foundation for the systematic, integrated and interdisciplinary investigation into how human values can support designing ethical AI.