AI Ethics in Practice: Questions for Your Social Impact Project

An AI project needs more than a useful output. It needs a clear account of who benefits, who could be harmed, and who remains responsible for its decisions. You can start answering those questions before writing any code.

Start with people and purpose

Describe the problem in the words of the people affected by it. Explain why AI is a suitable tool and where a simpler approach might work better. Consider human rights, inclusion, and environmental impact alongside efficiency.

Turn principles into design choices

• Fairness: consider who is represented in your data and who may be excluded. Check whether errors affect some groups more than others.
• Transparency: explain what the system does, its limits, and when someone is interacting with AI.
• Human oversight: name the person responsible for reviewing important decisions and provide a way to question or correct them.
• Privacy: collect only the information needed for the task and explain how it will be used and protected.
• Safety: identify foreseeable harms and decide when the system should stop or hand a decision to a person.
• Proportionality: weigh the expected benefits against costs, risks, and resource use.

Five questions for your proposal

1. Why is AI appropriate for this problem?
2. Could the data or model disadvantage a particular group?
3. Can you explain the system's output and limitations in plain language?
4. Where will a person review, override, or take responsibility for a decision?
5. Whose data will you use, and what permission and protection will it require?

Include your answers in the project design. Where you do not yet know the answer, describe what you will investigate and who you will consult.

Connect ethics to social impact

Choose the UN Sustainable Development Goal your project addresses, then define a concrete outcome you can assess. A useful proposal explains both the intended benefit and how the team will monitor unwanted effects.

The award-winning AI for Social Impact Global Challenge Program is delivered and certified by UNITAR and implemented globally by Ureka Education Group. It is open to all disciplines, with no coding required. Explore the curriculum or learn about the UNITAR certificate.