How AI Reshapes Human Morality: Behavioral, Psychological, and Neural Perspectives

Guo Xueli; Su Song; Liu Chao; Tang Honghong

doi:10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250601

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Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (6) : 1282-1293. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250601

Computational Modeling and Artificial Intelligence

How AI Reshapes Human Morality: Behavioral, Psychological, and Neural Perspectives

Guo Xueli¹, Su Song¹, Liu Chao^2,3,4, Tang Honghong¹

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Abstract

The rapid development and widespread use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have given rise to significant ethical concerns, with a key question being how AI influences human morality. This paper reviews relevant literature to examine the multifaceted impacts of AI on human morality.
First, we propose potential underlying mechanisms to illustrate how AI applications influence human morality. Studies show that people typically attribute less “mind” to AI than to humans. This perception fundamentally influences humans’ cognitive judgments and emotional responses during human-AI interactions compared to human-human interactions, resulting in distinct patterns of moral cognition, moral emotions, and social evaluations. The most notable influence on moral cognition may be how humans change their attribution patterns and judgments of responsibility in morally relevant behaviors within Human-AI interactions. According to previous studies, when AI systems cause harm, people tend to blame the AI more and attribute a higher degree of responsibility for the harm to the AI than to human agents. People consider AI as a “scapegoat” for immoral behaviors in many situations, facilitating their immoral behaviors. Meanwhile, Human-AI interactions could enhance humans’ tendency for utilitarianism in moral judgment, which may reduce prosocial behavior. Furthermore, human-AI interactions typically mitigate humans’ emotional responses toward stimuli or behaviors related to morality. This tendency may contribute to increasing immoral behavior and decreasing prosocial behavior. Specifically, when AI initiates prosocial actions instead of humans, people’s moral emotional response is diminished, which reduces their prosocial tendencies. Additionally, human-AI interactions could undermine people’s concerns for social image. When interacting with AI, individuals tend to adhere less to moral principles and become less sensitive to social evaluation. This reduced social awareness may subsequently increase unethical behavior or decrease prosocial behavior.
Then, we discuss the neural mechanisms underlying how human-AI interactions influence human morality. When people interact with AI rather than humans, their brain regions involved in social perception, emotion, and cognition show significant differences. Three primary brain networks demonstrate such differences: the interoception and human stereotype network, the social cognition network, and the valuation network. The interoception and human stereotype network primarily includes insula and MCC. These brain regions are less active during interactions with AI than with humans. The social cognition network involves the TPJ, STS, TP, SPL, PCC, and MTG. Activities in these regions are also decreased when people interact with AI. The valuation network primarily involves the MPFC, including the VMPFC and DMPFC. During human-AI interactions, compared to human-human interactions, both the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) exhibit reduced activity during decision-making. This suggests diminished processing and evaluation of decision-related information.
Finally, we discuss the positive and negative effects of AI on human morality across four different forms of human-AI interaction: AI delegator, AI advisor, AI collaborator, and AI moral model. When AI plays as a delegator, people may use AI as a proxy for executing immoral actions, or promote cooperation and fairness to benefit themselves. When AI serves as an advisor, its immoral suggestions can promote deceptive behavior, yet its moral advice does not necessarily encourage honesty. When AI functions as a collaborator, it has a mixed impact on human moral behaviors, revealing both positive and negative effects. When AI acts as a moral role model, it shows the potential to positively shape moral cognition and behavior. Its impact on children’s moral development is particularly pronounced, surpassing that observed in adults.
Future research should focus more on exploring how different AI applications impact human morality, particularly their long-term effects. These efforts will provide valuable theoretical support and guidance for the design, development, and application of AI.

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artificial intelligence / human-AI interaction / moral / social brain networks

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Guo Xueli, Su Song, Liu Chao, Tang Honghong. How AI Reshapes Human Morality: Behavioral, Psychological, and Neural Perspectives[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2025, 48(6): 1282-1293 https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250601

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