Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that evaluates actions by their consequences for overall welfare or happiness. In AI ethics, it is often invoked when systems must balance benefits and harms across affected people or groups.
is a moral principle that holds that the right course of action in any situation is the one that produces the greatest balance of benefits over harms for everyone affected. According to this principle, an action is right if it promotes happiness or pleasure, and it is wrong if it produces unhappiness or painβnot just for the performer of the action but also for everyone else affected by it. Utilitarianism stems from the late 18th- and 19th-century English philosophers and economists Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.