Understanding use of evidence in AI ethics guidelines development through a PRISMA-ETHICS informed scoping review of guidelines

Abstract

• Emerging technologies present novel ethical challenges, but it is not clear how guidelines respond to these. • Ethics guidelines can be informed by evidence, and evidence synthesis, in their development. • This scoping review indicates a lack of clarity in guideline development and evaluation. • Drawing on analysed sources, the paper provides recommendations for model processes and guideline structures for the development of guidelines. • A focus on guidelines as learning resources, provides framing for guideline development towards learning to navigate ethics. There have been recent calls for new ethics guidelines regarding the use of artificial intelligence in research. How should we go about developing such ethics guidance documents with respect to emerging contexts such as new technologies, and established domains such as research in education? This paper provides a PRISMA-ETHICS informed scoping review of approaches to ethics guideline development, the structures of ethics guidelines, and their audiences and purposes drawing on the context of education and AI. A search of scholarly and grey literature was conducted to identify both ethics guidelines and material discussing their development; n = 592 distinct items were identified, including 182 that identified via recent reviews of AI ethics guidelines. n = 47 guideline-sets were identified as ‘guidelines’. Guidelines were analysed with respect to their development approach, audience and purpose, and structural elements through which guidance is delivered; most included statements regarding their development approach (79 %) and audience (72 %). Where evidence underpinning the guidance was discussed, it was largely at a global content level (69 %), rather than with respect to the specific context/domain of the guideline use, principles drawn on, or approaches and strategies one might adopt in navigating ethical issues (23, 29, and 21 % respectively). Across the guidelines the only universal feature was the provision of an overview statement. We conclude with recommendations regarding the development of ethics guidelines, and their structure. No external funding was received. The review was not pre-registered.

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