AI Is Firing Employees. Who Is Morally Responsible?
Artificial intelligence is no longer limited to hiring decisions. Increasingly, AI systems monitor worker behavior, generate performance scores, recommend discipline, and in some cases contribute directly to employee termination. When an algorithm recommends firing a worker, who bears moral responsibility?
This article examines automated termination through the lenses of John Rawls’s Justice as Fairness, Robert Nozick’s libertarian theory of self-ownership, and Virginia Held’s ethics of care. Drawing on real-world examples from Amazon Flex and contemporary AI governance debates, it explores whether efficiency is enough to justify decisions that can cost workers their livelihoodAs organizations adopt AI-driven management systems, the ethical question becomes increasingly urgent: Should algorithms assist human judgment, or replace it?