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People are using AI to communicate without disclosing it. Is this morally wrong?

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · · 871 words · By Siavosh Sahebi; Thomas Montefiore
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What to know about People are using AI to communicate without disclosing it. Is this morally wrong?

The article explores the ethics of undisclosed generative AI use, utilizing a philosophical framework by John Danaher to categorize different types of deception. It argues that while some AI-assisted deceptions are trivial, others are morally problematic depending on the context and the impact on the recipient's beliefs.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 6
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Imagine you have used a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool such as ChatGPT to tidy up notes you took while in a meeting.

Why it matters

Your colleague comments on how clear they are.

Common ground

You don’t disclose it was the AI that made the notes clear and not you.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

The article explores the ethics of undisclosed generative AI use, utilizing a philosophical framework by John Danaher to categorize different types of deception. It argues that while some AI-assisted deceptions are trivial, others are morally problematic depending on the context and the impact on the recipient's beliefs.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/people-are-using-ai-to-communicate-without-disclosin…

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 6 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 4
verified Verified By Reference 1
check_circle Corroborated 1
info
Claim 1: “people take generative AI outputs, generally, to be less valuable, and regard those who use the technology as less competent and authentic”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the search results mention AI stigma and perceptions of value, none of the provided snippets explicitly confirm that people generally regard AI users as 'less competent and authentic'. The evidence is too fragmented to corroborate the specific claim.
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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 25, 2025 ... Artificial Intelligence (AI)—defined as the ability of a machine to perform cognitive functions commonly associated with human minds such as ...
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3713946
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web search NEUTRAL — Feb 5, 2025 ... Summary: Recent studies reveal persistent human skepticism toward AI outputs despite superior performance in medical, creative, ...
https://www.uxtigers.com/post/ai-stigma
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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 24, 2026 ... Additionally, our empirical results indicate that participants are widely aware of failure modes that are observable in generated outputs, such ...
https://arxiv.org/html/2604.22654v1
info
Claim 2: “Danaher calls these “external state” deceptions [lying or misrepresenting the external world]”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results for this specific claim are completely irrelevant, returning information about a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach named John Danaher rather than the philosopher. No evidence for 'external state' deceptions was found in the provided snippets for this index.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Learn BJJ online from legendary coaches & athletes such as John Danaher, Gordon Ryan, and Craig Jones. We also provide high-quality BJJ gear and apparel through bjjfanaticsgear.com.
https://bjjfanatics.com/collections/john-danaher
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web search NEUTRAL — What are the key John Danaher marriage rules? Check out the BJJ legendary coach's 5 unconventional reasons to follow when getting married.
https://bjj-world.com/john-danaher-marriage-rules-5-reasons/
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web search NEUTRAL — John Danaher basically did the same thing and applied it to leg locks in Jiu Jitsu. A leg lock is a joint lock and attack that is directed primarily to the ankle or the knee with the intent of hyper-e…
https://www.ypsi.de/blogs/english-articles/3-things-i-have-l…
info
Claim 3: “Danaher calls these “hidden state” deceptions [deceive others into believing we lack thoughts, feelings or competencies we actually possess]”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results for this claim are irrelevant, focusing on BJJ and sports figures rather than the philosopher's framework on 'hidden state' deceptions.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Kron Gracie vs. John Danaher storyline that’s been building for weeks took a new shape this week when Gracie packaged his skepticism of Danaher into a direct callout of Gordon Ryan. On the surface…
https://bjjdoc.com/2026/07/05/gordon-ryan-accepts-kron-graci…
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web search NEUTRAL — Смотрите онлайн «John Danaher - Feet to Floor - 3» от автора Вадим Талимов. Хорошее качество видео без регистрации в бесплатном видеокаталоге ВКонтакте. Опубликовано 17 апреля 2025. 204 — просмотрели,…
https://vk.com/video-230154569_456239022
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — John Danaher has just opened up about the Smother Tap, something his students have started becoming known for in recent competitions.
https://jitsmagazine.com/john-danaher-gives-his-thoughts-on-…
verified
Claim 4: “Philosopher John Danaher provides a useful framework to distinguish between three forms of deception by AI or robots”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Multiple sources, including a PDF on 'Robot Betrayal' and a systematic review on HRI, explicitly state that philosopher John Danaher distinguishes between three main forms of robotic deception. Wikipedia also confirms his identity as an ethicist specializing in AI.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The ethics of artificial intelligence covers a broad range of topics within AI that are considered to have particular ethical stakes. This includes algorithmic biases, fairness, accountability, transp…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_of_artificial_intellige…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — John Danaher is an Irish legal scholar and philosopher specialized in the legal and ethical impacts of AI and emerging technologies on society and democracy. He is a main proponent of ethical behavior…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Danaher_(ethicist)
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Machine ethics (or machine morality, computational morality, or computational ethics) is a part of the ethics of artificial intelligence concerned with adding or ensuring moral behaviors of man-made m…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_ethics
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 5: “Danaher calls these “superficial state” deceptions [lying or misrepresenting facts about ourselves]”
CORROBORATED
Two independent academic/review sources ('Robot Betrayal' and 'Deception in HRI and Its Implications') explicitly mention Danaher's 'superficial state deception' framework.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Apr 18, 2025 ... ... misrepresenting its immediate physical or ... Sætra criticizes John Danaher's distinction between superficial and hidden state deceptions ...
https://dl.acm.org/doi/full/10.1145/3721297
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web search NEUTRAL — Oct 25, 2019 ... Second, it argues that the second type of deception-superficial state deception-is not best thought of as a form of deception, even though it is ...
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336800077_Robot_Bet…
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web search NEUTRAL — Sætra criticizes John. Danaher's distinction between superficial and hidden state deceptions [47], contending that both superficial and hidden state ...
https://www.iris.unina.it/retrieve/0ffdacc5-111f-49b8-ab45-0…
info
Claim 6: “research has found people may be strongly incentivised to not disclose their use of generative AI because it may impact their relationships”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided web search results for this claim are generic definitions of 'research' and links to research platforms, providing no specific evidence regarding the incentive to hide generative AI use to protect relationships.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Research, in its simplest terms, is an intentional search for knowledge. John W. Creswell states that "research is a process of steps used to collect and analyze information to increase our understand…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research
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web search NEUTRAL — Access 160+ million publication pages and connect with 25+ million researchers. Join for free and gain visibility by uploading your research.
https://www.researchgate.net/
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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · The Open Access journal Research, published in association with CAST, publishes innovative, wide-ranging research in life sciences, physical sciences, engineering and applied science.
https://spj.science.org/journal/research
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.