Making Corporations More Humane Through Artificial Intelligence

Can existing corporate fiduciary principles adequately guide officers and directors regarding the proper development and utilization of artificial intelligence ("AI") technologies? What role should AI play in corporate boardrooms? These questions seem especially pressing considering the increasing prevalence of AI throughout a variety of industries in a host of key functions. It should come as little surprise, however, that with the advent of a powerful new technology, important concerns arise regarding the limits on its use and the ends to which it should be directed. Ethicists warn about AI 's lack of moral sensitivity, empathy, and appreciation for human rights. Most certainly, many ethical questions exist, but if the proliferation of AI remains inevitable, the task of identifying the proper parameters within which to use AI remains of utmost importance.This Article explores how reconceptualizing the fiduciary duties of trust that directors owe to the corporation and its shareholders might enhance the efficacy, integrity, and humanity of corporate decision-making in the era of AI. In particular, the Article suggests that a revitalized fiduciary framework based on the philosophy of "encapsulated trust" would allow corporate decision makers to shepherd effectively the development, utilization, and dissemination of AI. Construing corporate fiduciary duties around encapsulated trust would direct AI utilization to enhance the integrity of corporate discourse, diminish corporate corruption, validate a consideration of morality in business decisions, and require corporate directors to embrace a more pluralistic and inclusive approach to corporate decision making. The Article concludes that although AI might not supplant human beings on corporate boards, AI technologies could very well help make decisions by corporate managers more humane