Training framework builds practical skills for ai ethics challenges
Developing Competency in AI Ethics: A training framework
Computers and Society
Summary
Ethics in AI involves difficult decisions that require understanding rules and real-world actions. The authors offer a step-by-step training plan that helps people spot ethical problems, link them to ethics rules, pick ways to fix them, and handle tough trade-offs. This plan includes checklists, exercises, and guides to turn ideas about fairness and safety into clear steps. It is designed for a wide range of people who create and supervise AI systems.
What this means in practice
- •For ai engineers: Equip AI engineers with a structured method to translate abstract ethical standards into concrete design and operational decisions.
- •For policy advisors: Provide policy advisors with practical tools to assess and guide AI projects through ethical requirement mapping and mitigation.
Authors
Alexandra Prégent, Alexei Grinbaum
Abstract
We present a training framework for developing core competencies in the practical operationalisation of AI ethics: (1) identifying ethical concerns; (2) determining which standard ethics requirements they implicate; (3) selecting and prioritising concrete technical and organisational measures to address them; and (4) recognising ethics tensions and reasoning about trade-offs where such tensions cannot be fully resolved. The framework is intended for researchers and engineers in AI, Research Ethics Committee members, policymakers, and students, providing them with practical tools for translating abstract ethical requirements into concrete actions. The framework provides a step-by-step approach organised around four interconnected tasks: issue identification, requirement mapping, measure selection, and tension identification. These tasks are supported by a suite of training materials, including an Ethics Checklist and a Portfolio of Measures. Here, we complement them with a set of practical exercises of three different types as well as trainer guides. We also discuss lessons learned in pilot training sessions and offer recommendations for trainers.