Pragmatism, AI, and the Ethics We Need Now: An American Compass for Healthcare and Education By Jason Chicatelli | Ethivox
In a time when artificial intelligence is reshaping the fabric of society, we need an ethical compass that is uniquely suited to the challenges — and the promise — of the present. While much of ethics looks backward to imported philosophies, there is one moral framework forged on American soil that speaks directly to the age of machines and human transformation: Pragmatism.
Born from the minds of thinkers like Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, and John Dewey, Pragmatism isn’t concerned with abstract ideals divorced from reality. Instead, it asks: What are the practical consequences of our choices? What works, what improves life, what cultivates growth — these are the criteria that matter.
Nowhere is this perspective more urgently needed than in two of the most human-centered fields being rapidly transformed by AI: healthcare and education.
The Pragmatic Question: “Does it Help?”
Ethics, when approached pragmatically, begins not with rigid rules, but with outcomes. In healthcare, this means evaluating AI not by whether it perfectly simulates empathy, but by asking:
➡️ Does it improve diagnosis speed?
➡️ Does it reduce provider burnout?
➡️ Does it help more patients receive better care at lower cost?
In education:
➡️ Does it help students learn more effectively?
➡️ Does it give teachers back time to focus on real connection?
➡️ Does it close equity gaps or open new ones?
AI is not good or bad in itself. It is a tool. Pragmatism gives us the clarity to assess its use not by fear or hype, but by results.
Healthcare: Empirical Ethics at the Bedside
Consider a machine-learning model that predicts sepsis in hospitalized patients several hours before symptoms arise. From a deontological view, it might be argued that using a black-box model violates informed consent. But from a pragmatic lens, the model is judged by whether it saves lives.
Ethivox advocates a middle path: we must evaluate empirical outcomes while also building transparent, explainable systems that restore trust. Ethics here is not static — it is iterative, just as science itself is. We revise based on feedback, consequences, and evolving contexts.
Education: The Ethics of Empowerment
In classrooms, AI tools can personalize instruction, flag students who may be falling behind, or even help neurodiverse learners engage more effectively. But Pragmatism insists we ask the deeper question: Does this empower students and educators, or does it deskill them?
Ethical AI in education should never be about replacing teachers — it should be about freeing them. Imagine an AI that helps a teacher identify the exact point a student is struggling and offers multiple ways to reteach the concept. That’s not replacement — that’s amplification.
Pragmatism as American Ethics
Why Pragmatism? Because it's not utopian. It's not dystopian. It’s human. It understands that truth is discovered through consequences, and morality is forged in use, not decree. It is the only ethical system born of the American experience — one rooted in experimentation, adaptation, and hopeful realism.
At Ethivox, we believe ethics should be a living process, not a frozen checklist. We work with organizations to build systems that are:
- Grounded in real-world context
- Iterative and adaptable
- Focused on human flourishing
AI is not the end of human responsibility — it is the next chapter of it.
Let’s Make Ethics Work
The coming years will test our courage, creativity, and compassion. But we don’t need to start from scratch. We already have an ethical tradition that teaches us how to think through change, not against it.
Pragmatism doesn’t ask, “What is the perfect system?”
It asks, “What works for the people we serve?”
That is the question Ethivox is built to answer.