Skip to Main Content

Research on AI: Ethical Issues

This guide is designed to help students find scholarly research about the impact of AI across different disciplines, including sociology, psychology, education, economics, healthcare, and ecology.

Ethical Issues in AI

Starting Your Research

Because artificial intelligence (AI) is improving and expanding at such a rapid rate, researchers are still working to identify its ethical implications. Many notable areas have been flagged, however, including data privacy and intellectual ownership, AI's tendency to produce biased, discriminatory, or fabricated results, a lack of transparency and of policy/regulation, and threats to cybersecurity. Each of these areas requires continued research and improvement.

In this guide, you will find...

  • Articles to get you started in your research
  • "Hot topics" to help you choose a research topic
  • A pre-designed search in the library databases
  • Keywords to help you design your personalized search string
  • A link to the library's new AI research assistant
  • Links to some of the library's specialized databases



   Image generated by AI on Freepik

Internet Resources

Many reliable resources about the ethical implications of AI can be found online. Below, find a list of helpful overviews, government initiatives, and other reputable organizations that address this issue.

Hot Topics & Keywords

Hot Topics

  • Data privacy
  • Bias & discrimination
  • Privacy & surveillance
  • Hallucinations/misinformation
  • Accountability & transparency
  • Cybersecurity threats
  • Intellectual ownership

Keywords

("Artificial intelligence" OR AI) AND

  • Privacy
  • Bias
  • Transparency
  • Accountability
  • "Data responsibility"
  • Fairness
  • Hallucination
  • "Moral agency"
  • Inclusion
  • "Ethical implications"
  • "Ethical concerns"
  • "Moral issues"
  • "Responsible AI"
  • "Intellectual ownership"

Ethical Issues - Articles

February 15, 2024 | MIT Technology Review Insights
 

Responsible Technology Use in the AI Age

 

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash2024 | Ferrara, Emilio
 

Fairness and Bias in Artificial Intelligence

 

September 17, 2024 | International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)
 

What is AI Ethics?

 

April 21, 2025 | Wangari, Stephanie & Vaidyanathan, Gayathri
 

How Big Tech Hides Its Outsourced African Workforce
 

By Mohamed Nohassi on UnsplashJune 13, 2025 | Hill, Kashmir

They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.

 

 

Harm Considerations

Make this chart larger by clicking the "Fullscreen" button at the top right side. By clicking on the "+" buttons, find additional sources on the topics listed.

Library Databases

Brand Resources - ExLibris Primo Logo

Below, find a pre-designed search on the ethical implications of AI in the library's database discovery service, Primo:

Check out these library databases for more scholarly articles and resources on AI and ethics:

Primo Research Assistant

This guide will help you learn to navigate the library's new AI assistant, the Primo Research Assistant:

Accessibility Statement