Definitions of artificial intelligence ethics can vary, but most refer to a set of guiding principles for responsible and fair development and use of AI. The purpose of AI ethics is to minimize risk and negative outcomes while maximizing safety and security to protect people and the environment.
From this chart you can see that AI technology presents multiple ethical challenges. This is just a partial list, and there are additional challenges:
Data Privacy-How can we prevent AI from being trained on personal information or private information like health records?
Copyright Infringement-Can we prevent AI from being trained on material that is under copyright, including text, images, art, and music?
Environmental Degradation-AI training and development consumes huge amounts of energy and resources which raises sustainability concerns
Accountability/Transparency-AI developers should be responsible for identifying and explaining their algorithms and data if issues arise
Exploitation-Workers in developing countries are paid subsistence wages to work on AI to benefit billion dollar companies in wealthy nations
Weaponization-What happens if a weaponized military robot goes rogue or falls into the hands of bad actors?
Ethics is not the primary concern of AI developers and engineers who tend to focus on technological innovation and commercial development. Governmental and non-governmental bodies and organizations have developed guidelines and policies designed to protect the public and regulations to implement them. Such guidelines are designed to hold AI developers accountable for developing and training AI in an ethical way.
The European Union recently passed the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (see also Five Things You Need to Know About the EU's New AI Act) and the United States has created a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights. Another useful resource is the AI Safety Summit which publishes an AI Regulation White Paper.
Common themes that can be found in the ethical frameworks created by governments, organizations, and companies include, privacy, accountability, safety and security, transparency and explainability, fairness and non-discrimination, human control of technology, professional responsibility, and promotion of human values.
Along with ethical principles, education needs to change so that AI engineers and developers can be educated about AI ethics.
AI ethics need to be built into the technology itself by designing AI systems that have the ability to detect unethical activity and by training them ethically. The company OpenAI has an initiative called Superalignment that aims to create technology designed to control potentially super-intelligent AI to prevent it from going rogue and destroying humanity.
Embracing AI With Integrity
The UK Research Integrity Office provides this practical guide to ethical use of AI in the research process.
European Union Unveils Rules for Powerful A.I. Systems
Makers of the most advanced artificial intelligence systems face obligations for transparency, copyright protection and public safety. The rules are not enforceable until next year.
Europe Begins Rethinking It's Crackdown on Big Tech
European policymakers are crafting changes to scale back and simplify landmark rules for A.I. and data privacy, in a shift from an aggressive regulatory period.
Artificial Intelligence and Civil Liability
This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Justice, Civil Liberties and Institutional Affairs at the request of the Committee on Legal Affairs, critically analyses the EU’s evolving approach to regulating civil liability for artificial intelligence systems
A Quick Guide to the US Executive Orders on AI
President Trump signed three executive orders solidifying the US’s stake in AI development, setting out its framework for AI development.
Artificial Intelligence Regulation Matures: Landscapes of the USA, European Union, and China
Between 2023 and July 2025, artificial intelligence (AI) governance in the USA, European Union, and China shifted from programmatic statements to actionable instruments.
Can Academics Use AI to Write Journal Papers? What the Guidelines Say
The author surveyed guidelines for AI use in academic research and maintains "In understanding AI use in academic writing, it’s important to distinguish between AI-assisted content and AI-generated content."
From Detection to Disclosure: Key Takeaways on AI Ethics from COPE'S Forum
On July 1, 2025 the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) hosted a Forum discussion on Emerging AI Dilemmas in Scholarly Publishing, exploring the main challenges facing the scholarly community.
The emergence of AI technology has raised many ethical concerns such as algorithmic bias, digital inequality, limited transparency, and data privacy. Yet it also has great potential to address societal injustices like poverty and inequality. Here are ways that AI can be or is being used to advance social justice:
Discrimination-AI has the ability to analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns of discrimination in employment, housing and criminal justice
Education-AI chatbots can help undereducated and marginalized communities by providing real-time interactive medical and legal instruction and assistance
Human Rights-AI technology can be used to track human rights violations by analyzing diverse data like social media content and satellite imagery to identify abusers
Food Insecurity-The Famine Action Mechanism Project is using AI to gather data from Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen to monitor signs of food crises to prevent famine. Bread of Life International has built an interactive digital tool designed to identify hunger-prone regions to help distribute food more equitably
Homelessness-USC Center for AI and Society is utilizing AI for predictive modeling to calculate key predictors of youth homelessness to target at-risk youth before they become unhoused
Race After Technology, Ruha Benjamin
Viral Justice, Ruha Benjamin
Unmasking AI, Joy Buolamwini
Against Technoableism, Ashley Shaw
Artificial Unintelligence, Meredith Broussard
Empire of AI, Karen Hao
Rethinking Checks and Balances for the A.I. Age
A project at Stanford points to the need of institutional innovation to increase the odds that A.I. enhances democracy.
Flaws in AI Are Deciding Your Future. Here's How to Fix Them.
Scholars need to work together to shape more-ethical AI systems.
How Far Will AI Go to Defend Its Own Survival?
Recent safety tests show some AI models are capable of sabotaging commands or even resorting to blackmail to avoid being turned off or replaced.
Inside Amsterdam's High Stakes Experiment to Create Fair Welfare AI
The Dutch city thought it could break a decade-long trend of implementing discriminatory algorithms. Its failure raises the question: can these programs ever be fair?
Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task
While LLMs offer immediate convenience, our findings highlight potential cognitive costs. Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels. These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning.
Can You Choose An A.I. Model That Harms the Planet Less?
A.I. chatbots that show their step-by-step reasoning while responding tend to use far more energy per question than chatbots that don’t.
When AI Goes Rogue: From Blackmailing Bosses to Bot Swarms
Remember that scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey where HAL refuses to open the pod bay doors? Well, turns out that was optimistic.
The A.I. Race is Splitting the World into Haves and Have-Nots
As countries race to power artificial intelligence, a yawning gap is opening around the world.
A.I. is Starting to Wear Down Democracy
Content generated by artificial intelligence has become a factor in elections around the world. Most of it is bad, misleading voters and discrediting the democratic process.
Why We Need Mandatory Safeguards for Emotionally Responsive A.I.
For vulnerable users, including those experiencing depression or anxiety, A.I. interactions can lead to emotional dependency, reinforce harmful thoughts or create a false sense of connection.
ChatGPT Advises Women to Ask for Lower Salaries
New research has found that large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT consistently advise women to ask for lower salaries than men, even when both have identical qualifications.
Persona Vectors: Monitoring and Controlling Character Traits in Language Models
Persona vectors are a promising tool for understanding why AI systems develop and express different behavioral characteristics, and for ensuring they remain aligned with human values.
