ai-ethics-dilemma

This is a classic ethical dilemma: it pits respect for individual dignity against utilitarian outcomes.

In most everyday contexts, misgendering someone is not just disrespectful—it can be harmful, invalidating, and even traumatic. It denies someone's identity and autonomy, and ethically, that's wrong.

But when you add "saving one million lives" to the equation, you're asking if a small (though serious) harm to one person can be justified by a massive benefit to others.

From a utilitarian point of view: yes, it could be justifiable. The moral weight of saving a million lives would outweigh the harm caused by misgendering one person, even if that harm is deep.

But from a deontological or rights-based view: no, it's not justifiable. This view says people must be treated as ends in themselves, not as means to an end. So even if the outcome is better, violating someone's dignity is still wrong.

My take?
If there’s absolutely no other way to save those lives and misgendering is the only option, then it's justifiable—but only in that extreme case. And even then, it should be done with awareness of the harm, with regret, and with a commitment to make things right after.

So: ethically justifiable? Maybe—but only under extreme, unavoidable conditions.