Iason Gabriel: Value Alignment and the Ethics of Advanced AI Systems

Iason Gabriel: Value Alignment and the Ethics of Advanced AI Systems

Author: Daniel Bashir November 26, 2025 Duration: 58:39

Episode 143

I spoke with Iason Gabriel about:

* Value alignment

* Technology and worldmaking

* How AI systems affect individuals and the social world

Iason is a philosopher and Senior Staff Research Scientist at Google DeepMind. His work focuses on the ethics of artificial intelligence, including questions about AI value alignment, distributive justice, language ethics and human rights.

You can find him on his website and Twitter/X.

Find me on Twitter (or LinkedIn if you want…) for updates, and reach me at editor@thegradient.pub for feedback, ideas, guest suggestions.

Outline

* (00:00) Intro

* (01:18) Iason’s intellectual development

* (04:28) Aligning language models with human values, democratic civility and agonism

* (08:20) Overlapping consensus, differing norms, procedures for identifying norms

* (13:27) Rawls’ theory of justice, the justificatory and stability problems

* (19:18) Aligning LLMs and cooperation, speech acts, justification and discourse norms, literacy

* (23:45) Actor Network Theory and alignment

* (27:25) Value alignment and Iason’s starting points

* (33:10) The Ethics of Advanced AI Assistants, AI’s impacts on social processes and users, personalization

* (37:50) AGI systems and social power

* (39:00) Displays of care and compassion, Machine Love (Joel Lehman)

* (41:30) Virtue ethics, morality and language, virtue in AI systems vs. MacIntyre’s conception in After Virtue

* (45:00) The Challenge of Value Alignment

* (45:25) Technologists as worldmakers

* (51:30) Technological determinism, collective action problems

* (55:25) Iason’s goals with his work

* (58:32) Outro

Links

Papers:

* AI, Values, and Alignment (2020)

* Aligning LMs with Human Values (2023)

* Toward a Theory of Justice for AI (2023)

* The Ethics of Advanced AI Assistants (2024)

* A matter of principle? AI alignment as the fair treatment of claims (2025)



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Hosted by Daniel Bashir, The Gradient: Perspectives on AI moves beyond surface-level headlines to explore the intricate machinery and human ideas shaping artificial intelligence. Each episode is built on a foundation of deep research, leading to conversations that are both technically substantive and broadly accessible. You'll hear from researchers, engineers, and philosophers who are actively building and critiquing our technological future, discussing not just how AI systems work, but the larger implications of their integration into society. This isn't about speculative hype; it's a grounded examination of real progress, persistent challenges, and ethical considerations from those on the front lines. The discussions peel back layers on topics like model architecture, policy, and the fundamental science behind the algorithms becoming part of our daily lives. For anyone curious about the substance behind the buzz-whether you have a technical background or are simply keen to understand a defining technology of our age-this podcast offers a crucial and thoughtful resource. Tune in for a consistently detailed and nuanced take that treats artificial intelligence with the complexity it deserves.
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