Responsibility assignment won't solve the moral issues of artificial intelligence

Overview: The multitude of AI ethics guidelines published over the last 10 years take for granted certain buzzwords, such as'responsibility', without due inspection into their philosophical foundations and whether they are actually fit for purpose. This paper offers a challenge to the notion that'responsibility' is suitable and sufficient to AI ethics work. We have all seen the AI ethics buzzwords by now: 'explainability', 'transparency', and the big one, 'responsibility'. But what do these buzzwords offer in practice? This paper challenges the notion that AI ethicists can gain anything meaningful from employing the catch-all term'responsibility'. Responsibility is disassembled into differentiated parts, 'accountability', 'liability', and'praise and blameworthiness', which each offer unique insights into the ethical challenges AI poses.