Question 24
Domain 1: Ethical Foundations and Decision FrameworksAn AI product team is deciding whether to deploy a feature that could increase efficiency for most users but would require violating a standing privacy commitment made to all customers. Which ethical approach is most appropriate if the team wants to decide based primarily on whether keeping that commitment is required regardless of the overall benefits?
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Duty-based reasoning is most appropriate when the central question is whether an action is required or forbidden based on obligations, commitments, or rules rather than on weighing overall results. — Source material: Determine when duty-based reasoning is more appropriate than outcome-based reasoning.
Why each option is right or wrong
A. Use outcome-based reasoning, because the larger user benefit should determine the decision in every case.
Outcome-based reasoning evaluates overall results, not whether a commitment must be honored regardless of benefits.
B. Use duty-based reasoning, because the decision turns on whether honoring the privacy commitment is an obligation.
The scenario asks whether the team should decide based on keeping a standing privacy commitment regardless of the overall benefits. That is the defining use of duty-based reasoning: focusing on whether an obligation or duty controls the action instead of comparing outcomes.
C. Use outcome-based reasoning, because commitments matter only after calculating the net effect on efficiency.
Duty-based reasoning can control when obligations are the primary basis for judgment, even before comparing aggregate benefits.
D. Use duty-based reasoning, because it is the best method whenever a product affects many users at once.
The choice depends on whether obligations or outcomes are primary, not on how many users are affected.