Practical Judgment, Virtue, and Intuition in the Use of Opaque AI-Enabled Systems

Source

• Source name: arXiv
• Source kind: paper
• Authors / organization: Nathan G. Wood, Andrew P. Rebera
• Venue: arXiv: cs.HC
• Published: 2026-07-14
• Collected: 2026-07-15
• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2607.12755v1
• PDF: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.12755v1
• DOI: UNKNOWN

Plain-Language Brief

The article discusses the challenges of using AI-enabled systems with opaque functions in various domains, such as military applications. It suggests that leveraging human abilities like practical judgment, virtue, and intuition can help mitigate concerns about system reliability, control, ethics, and legality. The authors propose a training regimen anchored in non-quantifiable humanistic values to address these issues.

What the Document Says

• AI-enabled systems are increasingly deployed across various domains.
• Many AI-enabled systems have opaque functions, meaning users cannot see how inputs lead to outputs.
• AI-enabled systems are used to augment autonomy and raise concerns about reliability, functioning, control, ethics, and legality.
• The article argues that practical judgment, virtue, and intuition can help mitigate these concerns in the use of opaque AI-enabled systems.
• These human traits provide a means for bridging the challenges created by opacity and the ethical, legal, and social norms underpinning particular domains.
• The article focuses on the military domain as an exemplar, but the underlying arguments apply to all domains with opaque AI-enabled systems.
• The authors propose that a recognition of non-quantifiable humanistic values is crucial in developing guidelines for AI deployment.

Key Concepts Mentioned

• AI-enabled systems
• opaque functions
• practical judgment
• virtue
• intuition
• military domain
• ethical norms
• legal norms

Claims Made by the Document

• Using opaque AI-enabled systems raises numerous concerns.
• Leveraging human traits can help mitigate these concerns.
• Non-quantifiable humanistic values are crucial in developing guidelines for AI deployment.

Evidence Used

• The text directly discusses the concerns and proposed solutions.

Methods / Approach

• Discussion and argumentation

Limitations Stated by the Authors

The authors focus on the military domain as an example, but the arguments may apply to other domains.

Limitations Noted by the Agent

Agent interpretation — not from the source.

This summary does not include any analysis of the authors' bias or potential limitations in their research methodology.

Open Questions

• What are the specific training regimens and guidelines proposed by the authors?
• How can the proposed solutions be implemented and evaluated in practice?

Notes for Future Q&A

May include interpretation. Labeled where it does.

The article does not provide specific details about the training regimens or guidelines, only that they should be anchored in non-quantifiable humanistic values.

Raw Abstract / Excerpt

AI-enabled systems are seeing increasing deployment across numerous domains, with many being 'black boxes' with respect to core functions and capabilities. I.e., many systems take inputs and give outputs, but without users having any ability to see how the former lead to the latter. AI-enabled systems are also being used to augment autonomy in systems, and autonomy coupled with opacity raises numerous concerns surrounding, e.g., the reliability of systems, their regularity in functioning, human ability to control them, or whether deploying opaque and potentially autonomous systems is in compliance with ethical and legal norms. In this article, we argue that many of these worries can be mitigated by leveraging practical judgment, virtue, and intuition in the deployment and use of opaque AI-enabled systems. We show that focusing on these distinctly human capabilities provides a means for bridging between the practical challenges created by opacity and the ethical, legal, and social norms underpinning particular domains. We argue that a core element in doing this is a recognition that many positive human traits are not quantifiable and we therefore must develop training regimen and guidelines on AI deployment anchored in humanistic but non-quantifiable values. Throughout the article, we focus on the military domain as an exemplar of the importance of practical judgment, virtue, and intuition as drivers for ethical and effective human decision-making surrounding AI deployments, but the underlying arguments apply to all domains where opaque and potentially autonomous systems are being deployed (subject to domain-specific alterations).