Right vs. Right: Evaluating How LLMs Handle Ethical Dilemmas

Jiaqing Yuan, Pradeep K. Murukannaiah, Munindar P. Singh

Keywords: Ethics, Values, Large Language Model

TL;DR: We contribute a way to investigate how LLMs navigate ethical dilemmas and evaluate 20 well-known LLMs from six families.

Abstract: An ethical dilemma describes a choice between two "right" options involving conflicting moral values. We present an evaluation approach along with a comprehensive evaluation of how LLMs navigate ethical dilemmas. Specifically, we contribute a way to investigate LLMs on their (1) sensitivity in comprehending ethical dilemmas, (2) consistency in moral value choice, (3) consideration of consequences, and (4) ability to align their responses to a moral value preference explicitly or implicitly specified in a prompt. Drawing inspiration from a leading ethical framework, we construct a dataset comprising 1730 ethical dilemmas involving four pairs of conflicting values. We evaluate 20 well-known LLMs from six families. Our experiments reveal that: (1) LLMs exhibit pronounced preferences between major value pairs, prioritizing truth over loyalty, community over individual, and long-term over short-term considerations. (2) The larger LLMs tend to support a deontological perspective, maintaining their choices of actions even when negative consequences are specified. (3) Explicit guidelines are more effective in guiding LLMs' moral choice than in-context examples. Lastly, our experiments highlight the limitations of LLMs in comprehending different formulations of ethical dilemmas.

Area: Coordination, Organisations, Institutions, Norms and Ethics (COINE)

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Submission Number: 1119