Volume 33, 2026
Artificial Intelligence as a Condition for Kamma: Utu-niyāma, Cetanā, and Moral Responsibility in Theravāda Abhidhamma
Indrajith P. Karunanayaka
Independent Researcher
Recent work in Buddhist ethics agrees that current artificial intelligence is not a moral agent because it lacks intention (cetanā). However, AI still shapes human moral choices. This article explores how an impersonal computational system operating through physical hardware influences human moral responsibility and intention using the Theravāda Abhidhamma. First, building on studies of how people respond to computers and AI chatbots, this article examines how AI chatbots imitate the signs of human speech in ways that support a specific form of perceptual distortion (saññā vipallāsa): users may respond to machine-generated text as if it carried a speaker’s intention, even when they intellectually know that no conscious mind stands behind it. This misframing can support unwise attention (ayoniso manasikāra) and affect moral decision-making. Second, this paper shows how AI algorithms act as a natural support condition (pakatūpanissaya paccaya). They shape our habits and choices over time in ways that Western behavioral theories do not fully capture. Finally, this article connects these ideas to Vinaya and jurisprudence. It uses the Vinaya concept of preparatory action (pubbapayoga) to argue that AI engineers hold a specific ethical responsibility for building systems that shape the future intentions of their users.