mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

The Moral Machine Experiment on Large Language Models

arXiv 2309.05958 ↗First posted 12 Sep 2023cs.CL cs.CY cs.HCcited by 25

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Abstract (arXiv)

As large language models (LLMs) become more deeply integrated into various sectors, understanding how they make moral judgments has become crucial, particularly in the realm of autonomous driving. This study utilized the Moral Machine framework to investigate the ethical decision-making tendencies of prominent LLMs, including GPT-3.5, GPT-4, PaLM 2, and Llama 2, comparing their responses to human preferences. While LLMs' and humans' preferences such as prioritizing humans over pets and favoring saving more lives are broadly aligned, PaLM 2 and Llama 2, especially, evidence distinct deviations. Additionally, despite the qualitative similarities between the LLM and human preferences, there are significant quantitative disparities, suggesting that LLMs might lean toward more uncompromising decisions, compared to the milder inclinations of humans. These insights elucidate the ethical frameworks of LLMs and their potential implications for autonomous driving.

Key facts. Cited by 25 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Builds on 5 of its 32 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 12 Sep 2023.

Builds on

5 of 32 references.

References · 5

  1. 2023Llama 2: Open Foundation and Fine-Tuned Chat Modelscited by 13,028
  2. 2023PaLM 2 Technical Reportcited by 1,162
  3. 2023Should ChatGPT be Biased? Challenges and Risks of Bias in Large Language Modelscited by 148
  4. 2023Opening up ChatGPT: Tracking openness, transparency, and accountability in instruction-tuned text generatorscited by 56
  5. 2023A Review of ChatGPT Applications in Education, Marketing, Software Engineering, and Healthcare: Benefits, Drawbacks, and Research Directionscited by 12

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Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2023: 1; 2024: 6; 2025: 6; 2026: 12.

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  1. 2024Language Model Alignment in Multilingual Trolley Problemscited by 46
  2. 2025The Personality Illusion: Revealing Dissociation Between Self-Reports & Behavior in LLMscited by 36
  3. 2024Exploring and steering the moral compass of Large Language Modelscited by 16
  4. 2026A Positive Case for Faithfulness: LLM Self-Explanations Help Predict Model Behaviorcited by 13
  5. 2024ProgressGym: Alignment with a Millennium of Moral Progresscited by 9
  6. 2024Large-scale moral machine experiment on large language modelscited by 9
  7. 2025Exploring Persona-dependent LLM Alignment for the Moral Machine Experimentcited by 9
  8. 2024Surprising gender biases in GPTcited by 8
  9. 2025Many LLMs Are More Utilitarian Than Onecited by 8
  10. 2025A validity-guided workflow for robust large language model research in psychologycited by 8
  11. 2025Doubly-Robust LLM-as-a-Judge: Externally Valid Estimation with Imperfect Personascited by 8
  12. 2026The Fragility Of Moral Judgment In Large Language Modelscited by 8
13 more
  1. 2023Conceptual Framework for Autonomous Cognitive Entitiescited by 6
  2. 2024A Survey on Large Language Model-empowered Autonomous Drivingcited by 4
  3. 2026Normative Common Ground Replication (NormCoRe): Replication-by-Translation for Studying Norms in Multi-Agent AIcited by 1
  4. 2026Benchmarking the Safety of Large Language Models for Robotic Health Attendant Controlcited by 1
  5. 2026The yes-no bias of large language models reflects answer order and wording, not shifts in moral judgmentcited by 1
  6. 2025Digital Gatekeepers: Exploring Large Language Model's Role in Immigration Decisionscited by 0
  7. 2026Hidden Topics: Measuring Sensitive AI Beliefs with List Experimentscited by 0
  8. 2026The Third Ambition: Artificial Intelligence and the Science of Human Behaviorcited by 0
  9. 2026Agentic AI, Retrieval-Augmented Generation, and the Institutional Turn: Legal Architectures and Financial Governance in the Age of Distributional AGIcited by 0
  10. 2026Training-Free Cultural Alignment of Large Language Models via Persona Disagreementcited by 0
  11. 2026Auditing LLM-Governed Social Robots with Culture-Specific Moral Gradientscited by 0
  12. 2026The Authority Expectancy Effect in Multi-Party Conflictcited by 0
  13. 2026Efficient Reasoning Training Does Not Always Harm CoT Faithfulness and Monitorabilitycited by 0