‘From principles to processes’: Lessons for higher education from the development of AI ethics

This chapter reviews current trends in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) ethics, in order to suggest two implications for the field of higher education research and practice. In recent years, a vast assortment of businesses, national and regional governments, supra-national organisations, NGOs, academic groups, standardisation organisations, and public interest bodies have sought to define ethical codes for the use of AI. Various research projects have analysed this terrain, often suggesting the convergence of universal and definitive principles. However, less attention has been given to an emerging area of research and practice related to the participative co-design of AI, involving ongoing processes of multi-stakeholder discussion, participation, and exchange. This chapter draws on this emerging work to suggest ways in which higher education might better approach ‘ethics by design’, established around two key ideas: situating ethical issues within already existing social and historical contexts; and formalising the teaching of critical data literacy.