A new study from Google DeepMind suggests chatbots may not truly understand morality — even if their answers sound ethical. Current tests for AI morality focus on “moral performance,” evaluating whether a model produces acceptable answers. But DeepMind researchers argue that the approach misses the bigger question: can AI reason ethically, or is it just mimicking the right words? Can AI actually understand morality? In a paper published in Nature, the team lays out a roadmap for evaluating “moral competence” — the ability to produce morally appropriate outputs based on morally relevant considerations. As the abstract states, assessing this competence is “critical for predicting future model behavior, establishing appropriate public trust and justifying moral attributions.” Google’s current AI projects include Gemini language models, Gemini Image for image creation and editing, Lyria for music creation, Gemini Audio for real-time audio, and Veo for video generation. Researchers highlight three main challenges: The facsimile problem: LLMs may imitate moral reasoning without genuine understanding. Moral multidimensionality: Real-world decisions involve complex, context-sensitive considerations beyond simple right or wrong. Moral pluralism: …