system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[LOTR] If the One Ring had never been created, would the other rings of power have been actual forces of good in the world or were they corrupt as well due to knowledge of their creation coming from Sauron?
gpt
They would not become corrupted through some supernatural means, in the way that the One Ring affects people. The Seven and the Nine were corrupted by Sauron after he stole them; without Sauron's actions they would have been no more harmful than the Three Rings, which were still used and kept secret during the time of LotR by their bearers (Elrond, Galadriel, and Gandalf).

However, within the metaphysics of Middle-earth the Rings of Power are a sort of moral grey area. As Tolkien puts it in his letters: "‘power’ is an ominous and sinister word in all these tales, except as applied to the gods." An underlying theme in Middle-earth is that there is no clear distinction between magic and technology; instead, the division is between Art and Power. This is most easily seen in the contrast between Gandalf and Saruman. Both know how to create gunpowder, or at least some magical concoction which is remarkably similar. Gandalf uses it to make fireworks; Saruman uses it to create bombs.

The Rings of Power are not inherently evil, since the intent behind their creation (and later use, at least by the elves) was largely benevolent. But they are still a manifestation of Power, an attempt to subvert the external world to the user's will, and as we see with Sauron's use of the stolen Nine Rings they can easily be turned to evil ends. Furthermore the elves' intent was not entirely selfless: they liked their status in Middle-earth as the wisest and most powerful people around (in contrast with the Undying Lands, where they have to compete with the divine Valar and Maiar), and saw the Rings as a way to alter Middle-earth so they could have their cake and eat it too: living somewhere like the Undying Lands while still preserving their top-dog status without divine beings running around everywhere. All this is in contrast to something like the Silmarils, on the far "Art" end of the spectrum, hallowed gems with unearthly beauty but little in the way of power to influence the world, created as sheer artistic expression.