From reactive filtering to proactive moral architecture: rethinking ethical alignment in large language models

H. Mustafa Akyol · 2026 · AI and Ethics 6:379 background low priority coded

Main argument

Thesis: post-hoc output filtering creates a gap between internal generation and external outputs - 'ethical hallucination': surface-level alignment appearance over an ethically unconstrained architecture - which constitutes representational deception violating stakeholders' epistemic rights and inadequate designer responsibility for process integrity; proposes Proactive Moral Architecture (PMA), treating ethics as CONSTITUTIVE of generative processes rather than external constraint (Kantian/Aristotelian grounding).

Why it matters here

Names 'ethical hallucination' - the appearance of alignment via surface filtering while generation remains unconstrained - as REPRESENTATIONAL DECEPTION violating stakeholder epistemic rights and implicating designer responsibility for process integrity. A responsibility-framed cousin of Millière's shallowness diagnosis.

Reading notes

Compact treatment. Abstract + framing read.

Akyol, H. M. (2026). From reactive filtering to proactive moral architecture: rethinking ethical alignment in large language models. AI and Ethics, 6, 379.

Close reading — 1 coded units

#1 · pp. 1 · argument

“post-hoc moderation introduces a structural ethical flaw: it creates a gap between internal generation processes and external outputs, producing what we term ethical hallucination—the appearance of alignment through surface-level filtering while the underlying architecture remains ethically unconstrained. This constitutes representational deception that violates stakeholder epistemic rights and reflects inadequate designer responsibility for process integrity.”

AG-UNDERSTANDING RL-DEV

Synthesis-matrix row

supports T5-AGENCY-DENIED-EVALUABILITY-KEPT

ethical hallucination: surface alignment over unconstrained generation

supports T6-RESPONSIBILITY-UNALLOCATED

designer process-integrity responsibility asserted, not allocated

Memos (1)

comparison · unit #1

Adds the responsibility register to the shallowness diagnosis: where MILLIERE shows shallow alignment FAILS (jailbreaks), Akyol argues it WRONGS (deceives stakeholders about the system's ethical constitution, violating epistemic rights and implicating designers). Connects Baum's execution-vs-outcome scope to the moral-architecture level, and gives the Health chapter language for why a merely-filtered AI Scribe wrongs clinicians who rely on its apparent alignment. One-cite use.